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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



Chap. __. Copyright No, 

ft.fr * 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



" 



SERMONS 



ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS 



BY 

S. R. HARSHMAN, 

Evangelist, and Pastor of the Church of Jesus Christ, 
SULLIVAN, ILLINOIS. 






! JliM ££1896 







MDCCCXCVI. 




Copyright, 1896, 

by 

S. R. HARSHMAN. 




a 

i 



TO THE 

BRETHREN AND FRIENDS 

WHO SO GENEROUSLY PROVIDED THE MEANS FOR ITS 

PUBLICATION, 

THIS VOLUME 

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 

BY THE AUTHOR. 

h 



^*$* 



PREFACE. 



IN offering this volume of sermons to the public, I am not 
influenced by the belief that they will supply the place of 
the preached word. Nothing can be successfully substituted 
for God's appointed means for saving men. But it is hoped 
that the truth in print may prove to be an auxiliary means of 
spiritual good, and that it may not only stir up pure minds by 
way of remembrance, but may create a demand for a preached 
gospel. To the labor of love of preparing this volume I have 
felt called of the Lord, and I leave the whole result with him, 
well knowing, if any good is done in the earth, the Lord doeth 
it. I have avoided all attempt to be rhetorical, or to write fine 
sermons, feeling with John Wesley, that to write a fine sermon 
is as much a mark of vanity as to wear a fine coat. Besides I 
do not imagine I could write fine sermons if disposed to do so. 
The man who can air his rhetoric, or strain after " excellency 
of speech," in dealing with men's eternal interests, shows him- 
self to be a profane person like Esau, having no sense of the 
value of the things in which he traffics. I have striven to 
avoid all ambiguity of language and to write with clearness 
and force, having the one object in view, to produce conviction 
of the truth presented. As I feel that my responsibility ceases 
with the preparation of this volume, I trust that the reader 
will feel that his responsibility begins as he reads it. 

S. R. H. 
Sullivan, III., February #£, 1896. 



Sermons on Familiar Subjects 



FAITH 



" So then faith cometh by hearing." — Rom. x:i7. 

IN the introduction of the Christian religion into the 
* world, many new truths were revealed to men. 
These truths were of a Spiritual nature and could only 
be represented to the mind in symbolical language. 
Words are the signs of ideas. In the revelation of 
these new ideas, not only were symbols used, but 
words were used in a higher and more extended 
sense than before. So that we cannot find the exact 
sense in which terms are used by Christ and his 
Apostles, by going to the Greek Classics. Many 
misunderstandings have arisen by confining the 
meaning of Christ's words in this way. We can 
easily learn from a Greek lexicon what " bap to " and 
"baptizo" mean as used by the pagan Greeks; but 
these definitions do not by any means include or 
express all the meaning of these words as Christ and 
the New Testament writers use them. When words 
which commonly express ideas of worldly things are 
used to express ideas of Heavenly things, their 
meaning is as much higher as the theme is higher. 

(7) 



8 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

This principle applies to the word here translated, 
"Faith." Its full meaning cannot be found in the 
lexicon. The New Testament writers use this word 
in two distinct senses. It is used to express a grace 
which comes from God, and an act of the creature. 
There is probably another sense in which the word 
is a few times used in the Epistles : that of a miracu- 
lous gift. In Gal. v:22 faith is mentioned as one of 
the fruits of the Spirit. So in Heb. xi : I it is spoken 
of as an evidence, or Divine conviction, of things not 
seen. In these instances faith as a grace of the 
Spirit is referred to. When we are commanded to 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, here faith is evi- 
dently enjoined as an act of the creature. There is 
a wide difference between a grace which comes from 
God, and something done by man. Yet they are 
intimately related ; for there can be no act of faith 
without the preceding grace. We will then now 
consider : 

Faith AS a Grace. — In the matter of our salva- 
tion we are "workers together with God." He must 
first work before we can work. As the Articles of 
religion say " The grace of God preventing us," that 
is, preceding our efforts. We are commanded to 
exercise faith, but we must possess it before we can 
use it. Saving faith is not a natural faculty or power ; 
it is supernatural. It comes from God. All grace 
comes from God, the grace of faith included. This 
grace is thus defined in Scripture (Heb. xi:i): 
" Now faith is the substance of things hoped for ; the 



FAITH. 9 

evidence of things not seen." It is a Divine con- 
viction of the existence of things unseen. There are 
certain things of which we must be convinced before 
we can come to God. " He that cometh to God 
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of 
them that diligently seek him." How are men to be 
convinced of these truths? Jesus promised that 
when the Holy Spirit should come into the world as 
the Comforter of His people, He should convince the 
world of sin, of righteousness and judgment. Before 
a sinner can repent he must be convinced of sin ; 
both of its existence and its nature ; that it is, and 
what it is. Until he is thus convinced he is irrespon- 
sible. He is without law; and ''sin is not imputed 
where there is no law." Jesus says, "This is the 
condemnation, that light is come into the world and 
men love darkness rather than light because their 
deeds are evil." If the light had not come there 
would have been no condemnation. He told the 
Pharisees if he had not come and spoken unto them 
as no other man had spoken they had been without 
sin. Man is lost, but he is not responsible for being 
lost until God shows him that he is lost, and that 
Christ has come to find and save him. Men have 
been taught that they are sinners and that Christ is 
the Savior of sinners, but they never kjww either 
truth until they are Divinely convinced of it. Man 
is by nature dead in trespasses and in sins. He is 
dead to all Spiritual things. " The natural man re- 
ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they 



IO SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them, 
for they are Spiritually discerned." He can no more 
see Spiritual things than a blind man can see colors. 
Faith is then a divine conviction or apprehension of 
unseen or Spiritual things. If man is to live in the 
Spiritual kingdom, he must have some means of cor- 
respondence with the things of that kingdom. Man 
is in correspondence with the natural world, through 
the medium of the five senses. Deprived of these 
senses or faculties, man can have no knowledge or 
apprehension of the natural world. He would be 
practically dead to the world of sense and would soon 
become really dead. Life could not be supported 
without the use of, at least, some of the senses. Each 
sense brings him into correspondence with some de- 
partment of nature. Sight, if not defective, gives 
him a knowledge of light and colors; hearing of 
sounds ; smelling of odors, etc. And when all the 
senses are perfect, there is not a department of nature 
that he is not made alive to. But the natural senses 
fail to give him an apprehension of things Spiritual. 
It is not of their province. They can no more do so 
than sight can give a knowledge of sounds, or hear- 
ing enable him to detect odors. A man is as dead 
to odors, if deprived of the sense of smell, as if he 
were destitute of all the senses. To detect and 
recognize odors is out of the province of the other 
four senses. So a man, though possessing all the 
physical senses, still remains ignorant of Spiritual 
things, because of having no faculty for apprehending 



FAITH. II 

them. Now faith, that Divine evidence of unseen 
things, bears the same relation to the Spiritual world 
that the senses do to the natural world. It makes it 
possible for us to discern the things of the Kingdom 
of God. It brings us into correspondence with 
" those things which are not seen, which are eternal." 
To faith, eternal things become realities. They are 
not things merely heard of " with the hearing of the 
ear;" they are seen and known. 

"Faith lends its realizing light, 

The morning breaks, the shadows fly; 
The invisible appears in sight, 

And God is seen with mortal eye." 

Faith is the eye of the soul. It is to the soul 
what the five senses are to the body. It gives us 
ah apprehension of all Spiritual things. " He that is 
spiritual judgeth (discerneth) all things." This fact 
gives us to understand the vital importance of faith 
in the Christian system. So the Christian stands by 
faith, walks by faith, overcomes by faith. Unless 
Spiritual things are as real to us as natural things, we 
cannot forsake the one for the other. How can I 
give up the things of sense, which are so real to me, 
for other things of which I have no knowledge ? To 
ask me to do so would be to ask me to surrender 
substance for shadow, the real for the imaginary. I 
cannot do this. I may imagine I am doing so, but 
lam mistaken. Here is where so many professors 
have trouble. They try to love God but they can- 
not do it, for they do not know him. They strive to 



12 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

set their affections upon eternal things but they con- 
fess their failure. Their affections cleave to the dust 
despite their utmost efforts, and they sing in their 
discouragement : 

"Look how we grovel here below, 

Fond of these earthly toys, 
Our souls how heavily they go 

To reach eternal joys. 
In vain we tune our formal songs, 

In vain we strive to rise; 
Hosannas languish on our tongues, 

And our devotion dies." 

Is it possible that these earthly toys are so 
much more desirable and alluring to the soul, than 
those things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, 
nor human heart conceived, but which are now re- 
vealed to believers by God's Spirit? Is it possible 
God has nothing to offer that can eclipse the things 
of sense? The Greek bard represents the siren's 
song as being irresistible. Her music was so sweet 
to the ear that the hearer forgot home and friends 
and native land. Has God no music sweet enough to 
wean us from this world of illusions and disappoint- 
ments? One would be led to think not by the diffi- 
culties many professed Christians experience in di- 
vorcing themselves from the world. The trouble is 
the same with them as with the Jews, to whom Jesus 
said : " Ye have neither heard his voice nor seen his 
shape." God and eternal things have never been 
revealed to them, or if revealed at all, they have but 
seen " men as trees walking," and nothing clearly. It 



FAITH. 13 

is impossible that those who have once tasted of the 
milk and honey of God's promised land of rest, 
should ever again have a longing or liking for the 
leeks and garlics of Egypt. Those who have tasted 
of the good Word of God, and the powers of the 
world to come, even if they fall away, can find no 
delight in the former things. Much less will they 
have a longing for earthly things, while they are in 
the enjoyment of the things Heavenly and Divine. 
The poet has not overstated the matter where he 
says: 

"As by the light of opening day 

The stars are all concealed, 
So earthly pleasures fade away 

When Jesus is revealed. 
Creatures no more divide my choice, 

I bid them all depart. 
His name, His love, His gracious voice, 

Have fixed my roving heart." 

If this is not our experience, it is because Jesus 
has never been revealed to us. We have never ap- 
prehended him by faith. St. Paul says : " But when 
it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's 
womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his son 
in (to) me, immediately I conferred not with flesh 
and blood." A revelation of Christ to the soul always 
has this effect. To those who have not seen Him by 
faith, He is a " root out of dry ground." To those 
who have seen Him, He is " altogether lovely." To 
those who believe, He is precious. To the unbeliever, 
He is "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." 
The Lord does not propose to tear people from the 



14 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

love of this world, but to draw them from it. He 
does not ask us to surrender these things of sense, 
until He shows us something so superior to them that 
we cannot but be drawn away from them. In order 
that we might seek the things above, He shows them 
to us. As Caleb and Joshua brought back to the 
camp of Israel the grapes of Eschol, as a sample of 
the fruits of Canaan, so God shows us the fruits of 
the Heavenly Canaan, that we may be encouraged and 
persuaded to choose our portion therein. It is by 
faith, then, that the unseen becomes real to us, as real 
as the things that are seen. God becomes a reality, 
sin becomes a reality, righteousness becomes a reality. 
The blessed Spirit convinces the world of sin, of 
righteousness, of judgment. He opens the interior 
eye so that these things become living realities to us. 
We can no longer remain indifferent to them. All 
these things men have heard of before, but they 
were mere abstractions ; they have for them no real 
existence. By faith they become living entities. 
And, as when Spiritual things are seen, their infinite 
importance cannot but be perceived, men must be 
moved to action concerning them. Indifference is 
no longer possible. When the sinner's eyes first be- 
gin to open, men say he is under conviction for sin. 
That is, the true nature of sin is becoming apparent 
to him. Much of that which is called conviction for 
sin is misnamed. Men are persuaded that sin will be 
punished. It is natural to dread punishment or suf- 
fering. It is equally natural to seek to avoid suffer- 



FAITH. I i 

ing. The man who simply seeks to avoid the future 
consequences of sinning, gives no proof of genuine 
conviction. If he is persuaded that the danger is 
imminent, he will be moved to greater efforts. So, 
when it is desired to move men to action on the sub- 
ject of religion, where there is no genuine conviction 
for sin, the thought of death becomes a very impor- 
tant factor. In proportion as men are dominated by 
the fear of death, will their efforts be stimulated. 
Their whole thought is of future danger. Against 
this they wish to be insured. But where genuine con- 
viction takes place, the sinner is made sensible not so 
much of the danger of sin as the nature of sin. Men 
naturally look upon sin as a pleasant thing, but fear 
its consequences. When the Holy Spirit shows sin 
to them, when by faith they apprehend it, they see it 
to be abominable in itself. It appears loathsome to 
them. They turn from it in abhorrence. When they 
really see sin as it is, when they see it in the light of 
God, they hate it as God does. 

" Sin is a monster of such frightful mien 
That to be hated needs but to be seen." 

The man who does not hate it, does not see it. 
When a man sees sin, his soul's desire is to be rid of 
it. He cries out with the Apostle, " O, wretched man 
that I am, who shall deliver me." His effort is to be 
rid of the thing itself. He " abhors that which 
is evil," because it is hateful to him. He "cleaves to 
that which is good," because it is lovable and desir- 
able. He does this without reference to the result 



1 6 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

of his choice. He is moved by the nature of the 
things between which his choice lies. Because he 
hates sin, he seeks to be delivered from it. Because 
he hungers after righteousness, he strives after it. It 
is sin he fears rather than punishment. It is right- 
eousness he longs for, not reward or mere happiness. 
He would rather suffer and be right, than to be re- 
warded and be wrong. The desire for happiness is 
natural ; it has its root in selfish human nature. The 
desire for righteousness is supernatural ; it comes 
from God. It is wrought in us by the Blessed 
Spirit. To the man whose eyes are opened to see 
things in God's light, holiness is infinitely desirable. 
To the natural man it is hateful. Unless the eye of 
faith is opened, then we never can either hate sin or 
love holiness. We will put evil for good and good 
for evil. How impossible is it, then, that we should 
please God without faith. The things that please God 
will never seem desirable to us, till we apprehend 
them by faith. Without faith we can know nothing 
about them, no more than a deaf man knows about 
music. It is not an arbitrary arrangement that faith 
is made the condition of spiritual life. It must be so 
in the nature of things. In this state of existence we 
cannot possibly know anything about eternal things, 
except by means of faith. We cannot trust God un- 
less we see Him, that is, unless He is as real a person 
to our souls, as those men are that we see with our 
natural eyes. Moses endured, because he saw Him 
Who is invisible. So must we do if we shall endure. 



FAITH. iy 

If God is not a reality to us, how can we trust Him, 
either for soul or body? If His promises are not at 
least as real and reliable to us as the promises of 
men, how can we rely on them ? Many men imagine 
they have faith in God who fail to stand in the time 
of trial. While no evil threatens and no danger im- 
pends, they get along comfortably. But when they 
get into peril, and their way seems hedged up, they 
are in despair. They are like Elisha's servant when 
the Syrian army encompassed Dothan. (II. Kings : 
vi.) When the servant arose in the morning, and 
saw the city shut in by the Syrian host, he exclaimed, 
"Alas ! Master, what shall we do ?" He saw the 
danger, but saw no help. He saw things only as 
natural men see them. Not so, Elisha. He said, 
"Fear not ! For they that be with us are more than 
they that be with them." This statement seemed 
incredible to the servant. So Elisha prayed and said : 
" Lord, I pray thee, open the young man's eyes." It 
was not his natural eyes that needed opening. They 
saw clearly what was open to them. It was the in- 
terior eye that needed opening. And when his eyes 
were opened, " He saw, and behold ! the mountain 
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about 
Elisha." To the eye of faith, God is a wall of fire 
round about the believer ; without faith, he appears 
defenseless. Since God is thus present to the con- 
sciousness of the believer, he can trust Him in all 
emergencies and under all circumstances. But if 
He is not thus present to the consciousness, it is 

S. F. S.— 2 



1 8 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

impossible to trust Him. The person in danger will 
seek some other help, some other security. The mere 
fact that a man seeks help from other sources, proves 
that he does not realize God to be his helper. If he 
felt that God was his helper, he would feel no need 
of any other, for 'He that was for him would be more 
than all that could be against him. If we realize Di- 
vine protection, we can say in confidence : 

"Jesus protects, my fears begone! 

What can the Rock of Ages move; 
Safe in His arms I lay me down, 
His everlasting arms of love." 

Not only does faith give the power to discern that 
which is good, but also power to discern the evil. 
The man whose Spiritual eyes are opened, can discern 
both good and evil. He sees the enemies with whom 
he must contend and is' able to penetrate all their 
disguises. Satan becomes a recognized foe. His 
presence is immediately detected. This is absolutely 
essential to his safety. For if there be such a being 
as the Apostle describes, going about seeking whom 
he may devour, how could the believer resist him, or 
be on his guard against him, if he could not discern 
him. For he does not usually come in his proper 
person, but generally in disguise. He personates an 
angel of light ; he simulates good ; he comes with 
professions of great concern for our interests, great 
anxiety for our welfare. The blind multitude are de- 
ceived by him. They do not recognize his presence 
or influence at all. They see no further than second 



FAITH. , 19 

causes. They are led captive by him at his will. 
But faith discerns his wiles. Faith unmasks him, and 
thus prevents his getting any advantage. Faith gives 
discernment of spirits. It makes the believer exceed- 
ingly sensitive to good or evil purposes in others. It 
enables him to detect what spirit they are of. It does 
not render him suspicious, or captious, or ready to 
think evil of others, but he as naturally shrinks from 
the approach of evil, as a sensitive plant withers at 
the rude touch of man. How necessary this is to the 
Christian in this wicked world, filled with influences 
antagonistic to all good. How would he be at the 
mercy of every evil power, if he were not thus 
guarded ? We must remember that the most danger- 
ous things do not appear so to the natural man. The 
things that are highly esteemed among men, are an 
abomination in the sight of God. They are also in 
the sight of faith. The believer is in much more 
danger from those things that have the appearance 
of good, than from those having the appearance of 
evil. Faith enables him to see things in their true 
light, in their true nature. "The prudent man fore- 
seeth the evil and hideth himself; but the simple 
pass on and are punished." One has faith, the other 
is without it. Faith gives us a view of heavenly 
things. It makes them present to our consciousness. 
We have an earnest, a foretaste of them. As Moses 
from Pisgah's top viewed with delight the earthly 
Canaan, so the believer, by faith, looks over beyond 
death's narrow stream, and sees with rapture, the 



20 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

"sweet fields" and " generous fruits" of that "beauti- 
ful shore" which shall never be cursed by "chilling 
wind nor poisonous breath." These glories are 
present to him, as Charles Wesley expressed it : 

"By faith we are come to our permanent home." 

Some persons confound faith and imagination. 
When they speak of seeing with the eye of faith, they 
see only with the eye of fancy. We can see, in im- 
agination, Christ hanging on the cross, but this is 
not seeing him by faith. There is no real connection 
between imagination and realities. It mostly deals 
with fictions. In fancy we can see that which has 
no real existence as easily as that which is real. But 
faith sees only realities. Those things which faith 
apprehends are much more real than the things of 
sense. These are ephemeral and will soon pass 
away. Those are eternal, and will never pass away. 
Faith sees a kingdom which cannot be moved, which 
will live and flourish when earth's empires are lost to 
memory. Men sometimes say that they will believe 
nothing they cannot see ; Spiritual things seem fanci- 
ful to them. They do not know that the things that 
faith discovers are immeasurably more substantial 
than anything their eyes ever beheld. God does not 
ask us to believe anything we never saw. He reveals 
them to us. He makes us conscious of their exist- 
ence. He asks us to believe nothing on hearsay 
alone. If we receive " the witness of men," he gives 
us the " witness of God," which is greater. There is 



FAITH. 2 1 

no evidence so absolutely convincing as the view of 
eternal things which God gives us. As the interests 
at stake are the most weighty, so the testimony 
adduced is the most overwhelming ; so that we may 
act with the greatest assurance. Of course it follows 
that the man who acts with reference to a world 
which others are ignorant of, and with regard to 
facts they know nothing about, will appear foolish 
and wild. They will not be able to understand his 
conduct. They will honestly think him beside him- 
self. Thus faith has made fools of its votaries in all 
ages in the eyes of unbelievers. It must always do 
so, so long as there are believers and unbelievers. 
No doubt Balaam thought the conduct of the ass 
very strange, but when Balaam saw what the beast 
saw, he no longer wondered. A faith that does not 
make our conduct appear foolish and fanatical in the 
eyes of the world, is evidently a faith that shows us 
nothing that they do not see. Christ's own relatives 
laid hands on him, charging him with insanity, and 
the most religious people of the day openly made 
the same charge ; and if our faith does not so openly 
influence our conduct, as to cause men to speak of 
us and insane asylums in the same breath, then we 
are not at all like the Master. But the Christian can 
afford to be misunderstood and misjudged. He 
knows that he is right ; and that all men will finally 
be convinced of the fact. So he patiently and con- 
fidently waits for vindication. It will then be seen 
who were the wise and who were the foolish. 



22 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Faith enables us to discern good and evil. This 
is one characteristic of the Spiritual man according 
to the Apostle Paul. (I. Cor. 11:15.) (Heb. v: 14.) 
Not good, only, but also evil. This is one of the 
powers of faith which is much abhorred by hypo- 
crites. They wish to cover up evil both in them- 
selves and in others. When evils which faith 
discovers are pointed out, how ready they are to ex- 
claim, " Judge not that ye be not judged." " But he 
that is Spiritual, judgeth all things." Christ's lan- 
guage when thus quoted is misunderstood and mis- 
applied. It is not a prohibition of judging, for in 
other Scriptures judging is enjoined and approved. 
Unrighteous judgment is forbidden, but that judg- 
ment to which we are willing ourselves to submit, is 
not forbidden. What hypocrites object to is the 
calling things by their right names. Faith gives 
such discernment that hypocrisy is unmasked and 
corruption is uncovered and sin is exposed. Men 
who are destitute of Spiritual sense may be living in 
the midst of corruption without being sensible of it. 
What is stench in God's nostrils is no offense to 
them, for they are ignorant of its existence. And 
when men who become spiritually awakened begin 
by faith to recognize these offensive things, and show 
a strong disposition to avoid them and escape from 
their contagion, they think they are supersensitive, 
finical, making a great ado about nothing. For 
themselves they can notice nothing wrong. They 
are not inconvenienced by these vile sights and foul 



FAITH. 23 

odors about which the others talk so much, and they 
doubt their existence. And they are sincere in their 
opinions, too. Foul odors do not trouble the man 
who is destitute of smell. He will be poisoned to 
death by them and not know what killed him. God 
has so arranged the physical world that most things 
that are dangerous to the health are offensive, so that 
we may be warned, and moved to escape them, even 
though ignorant of their power of infection. So it is 
in the Spiritual world. When men become alive to 
Spiritual things, they are moved to action by these 
offensive things, for all sin is offensive to the Spiritual 
man, as they are to God. This produces disturbance 
and commotion. They cannot sit quietly down in a 
charnel-house and consent to be made companions 
of the Spiritually dead. They make efforts to escape 
from such company. They wish to be separate and 
not to touch the unclean. Therefore they go out 
from them, as they are commanded to do. This 
conduct is resented by those who are thus discrimi- 
nated against. They do not allow others the right 
to protect their Spiritual health. They accuse them 
of turning the world upside down as they did 
formerly. Nevertheless the duty of Spiritual men is 
clear. They must not risk their lives to avoid clamor 
and accusation. Their Spiritual discernment is given 
them to protect them and warn them, and they refuse 
to heed the warnings at their peril. 

We conclude then that the grace of faith is a 
Divine conviction of unseen things. That it is that 






24 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Spiritual faculty or sense that gives us apprehension 
and cognizance of the things belonging to the Spiritual 
kingdom of God. That we are all destitute of it 
until it is given to us through the hearing of the 
gospel, for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by 
the word of God. 



FAITH 

"For with the heart man believeth unto righteous- 
ness." — Rom. x:io. 

A S we explained in the preceding sermon, faith 
* is both a grace and an act of the creature. 

As a grace it comes from God, the author of all 
grace. As grace must precede the act of the crea- 
ture, so the grace of faith must precede the act of 
faith. The grace of faith particularly affects the 
understanding. It is the opening of the eyes of our 
understanding, as expressed by the Apostle. In mat- 
ters of the understanding we have no choice, no free- 
dom. Produce sufficient evidence of a fact, and I must 
believe it. Produce certain impressions on the brain 
through the eye or ear, and the mind is correspond- 
ingly affected invariably and inevitably. The under- 
standing cannot act without the stimulus, nor fail to 
act with it. Our mental natures are fixed, and act 
only as they are acted upon. We have no control 
over our mental actions no more than over the action 
of the sympathetic nervous system. We may avoid 
the occasion of mental action, but given the occasion, 
the action follows of necessity. It follows then that 
no command can be addressed to the understanding, 
or rather, no command can have respect to the ac- 
tion of the understanding. For a command implies 

(25) 



26 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

the power of choice. It is unnecessary to command 
what cannot be avoided, and useless to command 
what cannot be performed. But if I may or may not 
do a thing as I choose, then a command is appropri- 
ate and reasonable. The faith of which we have 
spoken in the preceding sermon being the enlight- 
enment of the understanding, is not commanded. It 
is done for the sinner unconditionally. His under- 
standing is enlightened through the truth by the 
Spirit without his consent being asked. But there is 
a faith that is commanded. The Apostle said to the 
Philippian jailor, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and thou shalt be saved." This faith then is com- 
manded. It is that faith which is : 

The act of the creature : In this command the 
grace of faith is presupposed. It is only given to 
those who hear the gospel which opens blind eyes and 
turns men from darkness to light. This grace of 
faith which is sometimes called " conviction," some- 
times "awakening," is absolutely essential to the act 
commanded. It cannot take place without the pre- 
vious awakening. Since then the sinner is com- 
manded to believe, the act must be one which he 
may, or may not, perform, as he chooses. Now there 
is but one part of the man that is free, and that is the 
will. So Pope has said of God that he : 

" Binding Nature fast in fate. 
Left free the human will." 

The mental powers and the affections are not 
under the control of man ; they are not free. They 



FAITH. 27 

act as they are acted upon. That faith then which is 
commanded by the Lord is an act of the will rather 
than of the intellect. It is something that a man can 
do if he chooses. It is something in which a man 
acts freely and from choice. It may be objected that 
men are commanded to love God, and that love is an 
act of the affections. The law commanded to love 
God with all the heart and soul and mind and 
strength, and the law of Christ requires the same 
love ; but when love is commanded, it is an act and 
not a sentiment that is required of us. " This is the 
love of God that we keep his commandments, and his 
commandments are not grievous." The act of love 
is the keeping of his commandments. It is true that 
this cannot be done in the absence of the sentiment 
or grace. But that is a matter over which we have 
no control and cannot therefore be held responsible 
for. The sentiment of love to God is awakened in 
us by a sense of His love to us, and can be produced 
in no other way. So when God is pleased to give us 
a sense of His love to us, we spontaneously love Him 
because He first loved us. God's commandments 
are addressed to us as free agents and they respect 
only those things in which we act freely and of 
choice. It follows then that both the faith and love 
which God commands, are acts of the free will. 
The great and general mistake on this point is the 
teaching that saving faith is an act of the mind or in- 
tellect. It may not be taught in so many words, but 
it is so taught in effect. 



28 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Such a conception of saving faith is radically and 
fatally wrong. It puts the penitent on the wrong track 
and entirely misleads him. I care not what the propo- 
sition may be that the mind is endeavoring to credit ; 
how true it may be, how much in accordance with the 
teachings of Scripture ; the belief of that proposition 
is not saving faith. One direction given to penitents, 
which is very common, is this, "Just believe that the 
Lord saves you and you are saved." This in effect 
makes saving faith an act of the understanding. The 
effort is to accept a proposition as true. How many 
have struggled for weeks and months to believe a fact 
of which they have no evidence. If the evidence of 
the truth of that proposition had been sufficient, they 
could have believed it in a moment. In fact they 
could not have avoided believing it. Without that 
evidence they could not believe it in an age. Such 
an effort, if successful, would not be faith but pre- 
sumption. Presumption is the acceptance of a fact 
without evidence ; faith is the acceptance of a fact on 
evidence. The same end is attempted by means of 
argument. Men must be forced into salvation at 
the point of a syllogism. "Does not Christ say, 
' Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out? ' ' 
"Yes." "Do you now come unto Him?" "Yes." 
"Does He cast you out?" "No!" "Then you are 
saved ! " " But," says the penitent, " I do not feel 
anything different." They are told they have God's 
word to stand on, and they must stand there by 
naked faith. If they had actually come to Christ 



FAITH. 29 

they would not need to stand by naked faith ; they 
would have assurance. Just there is the defect of 
this plan of salvation by syllogism. The penitent has 
not come to Christ. If he had, there would be no 
need of further question. Men imagine they have 
come to Christ when they have not done so. A pre- 
sumption in the minor premise leaves a presumption 
in the conclusion. The syllogism would stand thus : 
(Major.) Christ will cast out no one who comes to Him. 
(Minor.) I (presume I) come to Him. (Conclusion.) 
Therefore! I (presume I) am saved. The danger of 
this theory of faith consists in the fact that it distracts 
the attention of the seeker from the essential matter. 
It blinds his eyes to the real point that is lacking. 
He supposes that he has really surrendered himself 
to God, and that the trouble is that he does not 
believe something that he ought to believe. So he 
wastes his time in vain endeavors after the impossible, 
or substitutes presumption for faith and thus deceives 
himself. How often you will hear persons say : " The 
great trouble with me is I cannot believe. I strive 
and strive but seem to have no faith." We see in the 
light of what has been already written what the trouble 
is with this seeker. He is on the wrong track. Either 
he is not truly awakened, or being awakened, he is not 
wholly given up to the will of God ; and with the 
understanding which he has of the subject, his efforts 
will end in presumption or despair. What the seeker 
after God needs to concern himself about is the sur- 
render of himself to God. We imagine that we are 



30 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

consecrated when we are not ; that we intrust all to 
God while we are yet fearful and unbelieving. But 
the moment we really do cast ourselves upon God, 
we will have evidence of that fact ; God will testify 
to the gift, and assurance of God's favor and of our 
adoption and sonship will immediately spring up in 
our souls ; and we will, by this spirit of adoption, 
call God our father. Saving faith then is that act 
of the will by which the shiner wholly abandons him- 
self to the will of God, and casts himself upon the 
mercy of God in Christ Jesus. The moment he does 
this God saves him, accepts him in the Be- 
loved, and gives him the spirit of adoption which 
seals him a child of God. The act of aban- 
doning himself to God's will is the strong- 
est possible proof of confidence in God's promises. 
He cannot do this, unless he believes that God is and 
that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. To say 
that we are trying to believe God, is an insult to Him, 
as it is an insinuation against His veracity. The Lord 
convinces our understanding, the hindrance to sal- 
vation is in the will alone. When we say that saving 
faith is the act of surrender to God, it must be un- 
derstood that we mean that this is the faith com- 
manded and required of the sinner ; but the grace of 
faith is a necessary part of saving faith, but it is not 
commanded but freely given, and must precede the 
act. The two are complements of each other. In 
them God and man work together to the one end. 
This faith which saves the sinner in the beginning is 



FAITH. 3 1 

the faith by which the Christian lives. The faith 
which first, as a condition, produces life, perpetuates 
it. As the Christian begins to live by faith and not 
by works, so he continues to live. The faith that 
purifies the heart works by love. It is the root from 
which good works spring. It is a living principle 
and must through love produce obedience. The 
faith which does not produce works of obedience is 
dead. It is of the understanding merely and not of 
the heart. To put the sinner to doing something in- 
stead of trusting God, would be to teach him to seek 
salvation by the law instead of by grace. "For the 
law saith, he that doeth these things shall live by 
them." Everyone, therefore, that does anything, any 
work, in order to gain or retain God's favor is under 
the law, for that is what the law teaches ; " do and 
live." But grace teaches " believe and live," and let 
your doing be a result of life, but not its cause. 
Good works in a Christian are fruit, and fruit is 
always a result of life. To teach then that works are 
a means of grace is to teach the law instead of the 
gospel. A " mean " is that which stands between 
two things and unites them. A means of grace is 
that by which, or through which, grace is communi- 
cated. Says the Apostle, " It is of faith that it might 
be by grace." Faith then is the only means of 
grace. No work can be a means of grace. Neither 
prayer nor reading the word, nor preaching, nor fast- 
ing are therefore means of grace, and to call them 
such, is to mislead the mind. But says one "we do 



32 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

not suppose these works to be means of grace unless 
they are done in faith." It is the faith, then, that conveys 
the grace. But is not faith a means of grace when I 
keep still as well as when I pray? Why then not call 
silence a means of grace? Faith also brings grace 
when we work in the field or in the shop, when we 
buy and when we sell. It is just as proper to call 
every act of a Christian a means of grace as any one 
of them, for they are all done in faith. " For what- 
soever is not of faith is sin." This may seem to some 
as an unimportant point, but thousands have been 
misled by this error. They have been led to trust in 
a few works, which have thus been distinguished as 
" means of grace." Faith is the one only means of 
grace. It is the work of God. To direct a con- 
vert to pray regularly in secret, read the Scriptures 
daily, and to hear preaching statedly in order to 
keep Spiritually alive, is to put that convert under the 
law, as much as if you taught him to be circumcised 
and to keep the law, of Moses in order to be saved. 

There is but one condition of salvation, and that 
is faith. To retain the grace of God there is but one 
condition — to believe. He that believeth hath ever- 
lasting life. Obedience will always spring from faith. 
Works done in order to secure God's favor are dead 
works. They are " our own righteousness, " which is 
to God as " filthy rags." God saves us from these 
dead works, this religion of "opus operatum," doing 
things for the sake of doing them. Any act of wor- 
ship done with the idea of securing or retaining God's 



FAITH. 33 

favor, instead of being a means of grace to the doer, 
is a means of condemnation. Those who do such 
things for such a purpose put themselves under the 
law and are fallen from grace, as the Apostle tells the 
Galatians. Christians pray not from a sense of duty, 
but from a sense of need. It is not done to give 
anything to God, but to secure something for them- 
selves. Saints do not live because they pray ; they 
pray because they live. It is as natural for God's 
children to go to Him with their cares, their sorrows 
and their needs as it is for our children to come to 
us. And they feel no more sense of duty in the mat- 
ter. It is their blessed privilege. I am satisfied that 
though it is the generally accepted theory that 
Christians live by faith, it is contradicted by nearly 
all the teachings respecting Christian practice. The 
theory is generally ignored in practice. How often 
you have heard some professor say, in giving his 
experience, "I have all the religion I live for." Such 
an expression is a practical denial of the doctrine of 
salvation by grace. Grace comes by faith, not by 
" living for it. " A man lives all the religion he has. 
He lives it because he has it, he does not have it 
because he lives for it. They get such false notions 
from their teachers. They tell them, " If you want 
grace, go to work. " 

I have heard religious teachers, generally sup- 
posed to be evangelical, tell their flock that if they 
felt cold and dead Spiritually to go to work for others, 

and they would themselves receive life and warmth 
s. f. s.— 3 



34 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

from the Lord. They might as well tell a physically 
dead man to go to work in order to become alive. 
So if we want the beam out of our own eyes we must 
go to work pulling motes out of other people's. 
Jesus says to such a one, "Thou hypocrite." If such 
a teacher were asked the question, "What must I do 
that I might work the works of God," his answer 
would be quite different from the one the Saviour 
gave, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on 
Him whom He hath sent." This is the work of God, 
because all other works spring from it. To believe 
is to live, to live is to work. We can only work out 
what God works in us, "To will and (power) to do 
His good pleasure." The saint is saved then every 
moment of his life on precisely the same condition 
upon which he was saved the first moment of his 
Christian experience — simply by faith in Christ 
without any account being taken of his obedience. 
The greatest saint and the greatest sinner come to 
God on exactly the same conditions. In the matter 
of their salvation, they stand upon the same platform. 
The obedience of the Christian counts no more in 
saving him than the disobedience of the sinner. 
Whatever their past lives may have been, they 
depend, for God's favor, upon the merits of Christ 
alone. Their good works or evil works, their deserv- 
ings or undeservings do not count in the matter. 
Each one comes to God saying: 

" I have no other hope beside, 

Lord, I am damned, but Thou hast died." 



FAITH. 35 

The man who has served God faithfully for years, 
who in the slightest degree trusts to that obedience 
for recognition and favor, will go to his house as the 
Pharisee did, who trusted in his own righteousness, 
while the sinner, conscious of nothing but evil doing, 
who trusts in the merits of Christ alone, like the poor 
Publican, will go to his house justified. Charles 
Wesley beautifully expresses this truth in one of his 
hymns where he says ■ 

" Not one good word or thought 
I to thy merits join ; 
But freely take the gift unbought 
Of righteousness Divine. " 

While God has graciously promised to reward the 
good works of His people, they constitute no part of 
their righteousness, nor are they any part of the con- 
dition of salvation. "Not by works of righteousness 
that we have done, but according to His own mercy, 
He saved us." Salvation is by grace from beginning 
to end. It is a free gift, and not the reward of 
good works. If the Lord shows us favor because of 
anything we do, it would be a matter of debt and not 
a free gift. But eternal life is the gift of God ; the 
free, unmerited gift of God. For the saint, then, 
to imagine that the Lord would bless him because of 
his obedience or his faithfulness, would be to sup- 
pose that he had made God his debtor, a matter of 
which he might boast. But boasting is excluded by 
the law of faith. " It is of faith," then, " that it might 
be by grace." 



36 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

"Grace all the work shall crown, 
To everlasting days; 
It lays in heaven the topmost stone, 
And well deserves our praise." 



If faith is a condition of salvation, it is the only con- 
dition. If works are a condition of salvation, they are 
the only condition. They cannot both together be con- 
ditions of salvation, for the reason that they build upon 
entirely different foundations. What one would build 
up, the other would pull down. What one would 
claim, the other would disown. One comes as a 
pauper, the other as a creditor, and no one can be 
both these at the same time. To teach, then, as 
some do, that both faith and works are conditions of 
salvation, is just as reasonable as to claim that a per- 
son is both earning his living, and depending on 
charity at the same time. If salvation is by works, 
it is simple justice, for it is nothing but justice that 
we should receive what we earn. If it is by grace 
through faith, it is pure mercy, for we have deserved 
nothing. It is not our obedience that satisfies the 
law, but Christ's obedience. We are saved by His 
life, as well as by His death. He fulfilled the law in 
every jot and tittle, and delivers His people from 
under it. When the law was thus fulfilled it passed 
away, so far as they are concerned for whom it was 
fulfilled. They are not under the law, but under 
grace ; though the righteousness of the law is fulfilled 
in all believers. They have nothing to do with 
obedience to the law. To them love is obedience; 



FAITH. 37 

love is the fulfilling of the law. They cannot live by 
doing ; as to offend in one point, in one jot, would be 
death to them in such case. Their ignorance and 
their infirmities make it impossible thus to live. So, 
casting away all hope for life from such a source, 
they believe and live, they live and love, and faith 
working by love produces the fruit of a holy life. 
Christian faith is a practical thing. It is not an 
opinion, it is a conviction. An opinion maybe inert; 
it may exert no influence upon the practice of the 
possessor. A conviction is a moving force ; it nec- 
essarily affects the conduct of the possessor. A 
man's opinions and practice may be completely at 
variance, but his convictions will always dominate 
and control his conduct. Evangelical faith, then, be- 
ing a conviction, is all-powerful in determining the 
life of its possessor. So far then from Christian faith 
and practice being opposed to each other, they are 
the complements of each other; they cannot exist 
independently of each other. The certain way to 
promote Christian practice is to inspire Christian 
faith. Some imagine that to establish faith as the 
condition of salvation is to discourage good works. 
In other words, that "we make void the law through 
faith." This the Apostle Paul denies, and experience 
corroborates him. Faith "establishes the law." 
That is, by means of salvation by grace through 
faith, the things required by the law, love to God 
and man, and such conduct as necessarily flows from 
that love, are in the most eminent degree possible, 



38 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

secured and established. So that instead of abolishing 
good works through salvation by grace, we preserve 
them. By discarding works as a means of salvation, 
they are secured as a result of salvation. And thus 
truly good works are secured ; works flowing from a 
good and pure source ; works which God can ap- 
prove and reward. We unite, then, with Wesley, in 
praying : 

" Save us by grace through faith alone; 
A faith Thou must Thyself impart: 
A faith that will by works be shown: 
A faith that purifies the heart. 

" A faith that will the mountains move: 
A faith that shows our sins forgiven: 
A faith that sweetly works by love, 
And ascertains our claim to Heaven." 



REPENTANCE 



" Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a 
Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel 
and forgiveness of sins." — Acts v:3i. 

But now commandeth all men, everywhere, to re- 
pent." — Acts xvii:30. 

■""THE Greek word usually translated "repentance" 
* in the Scriptures, signifies literally " a change 
of mind." It is used in much the same sense by the 
inspired writers, although, as in the case of many 
other terms used, its meaning is extended to fit the 
subject it stands for. We notice from the texts 
quoted above that it is used to represent a gift of God 
as well as an act of man. And as in all cases, the 
gift or grace is first and the act afterwards. The 
grace of God must always precede the act of the 
creature in the matter of salvation. A common defi- 
nition of gospel repentance is that it is "A Godly 
sorrow for sin and a forsaking of the same." This 
seems to pretty correctly express the scriptural idea. 
The doctrine of repentance is a fundamental one, and 
is reckoned by the Apostle as one of the "first prin- 
ciples of the doctrine of Christ." It is not only a 
fundamental doctrine but is also a fundamental ex- 
perience, and like all fundamentals it is of the first 

(39) 



40 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

importance. A good foundation is of the greatest 
importance to the stability of the building erected 
upon it. There is no part of the building more essen- 
tial to its security than the foundation, as, if that gives 
way, the whole building will be wrecked. The man 
who built upon the sand may have erected as beau- 
tiful and expensive an edifice as the one built upon 
the rock. But its foundation was fatally defective, 
and the storm soon demonstrated this fact. It was 
a good fair weather house, and afforded shelter when 
it was not much needed, but when the tempest came 
and shelter was absolutely necessary to comfort, if 
not to life, it utterly failed its occupant, and became 
a source of danger rather than a means of protection. 
The Christian life must encounter storms and floods, 
and it is of the utmost importance that its foundation 
should be secure. But on this very point men are 
likely to be most careless. They are in haste to see 
results of their labor, and have not the long patience 
that becomes the husbandman ; they cannot wait for 
the early and the latter rain. They hurry to the birth 
the subjects of their solicitude and produce Spiritual 
abortions rather than living healthy children. This is 
upon the supposition that their converts have really 
been begotten of the Lord. For it is to be feared 
that in many instances they have not been begotten 
of the Lord at all. And if that is lacking they never 
can become the children of God. While the laying 
of the foundation of a building is a very important 
part in its construction, it is a slow and laborious 



REPENTANCE. 4 1 

part, and does not make much show of results. To 
dig deep, does not look much like building up. But 
it is utterly unsafe to begin building until the rock is 
reached. This delving down into the corruption of 
the depraved heart, and uncovering the ungodliness 
and dishonesty of the past life, is what human nature 
objects to. It is very averse to such a procedure. So 
that those who are satisfied to deceive men with a 
slight healing, do not insist upon such an unpopular 
work, which will so materially hinder their success in 
gaining converts. They do not insist upon the fruits 
of a genuine repentance, but at once encourage men 
to begin building a Christian experience by believing 
on Christ and claiming his favor. They say little or 
nothing about confession of sin which they have com- 
mitted against their fellowmen, or restitution of that 
which has been wrongfully taken from others. So far 
from insisting on these necessary things, they are 
scarcely mentioned, but the first exhortation to sin- 
ners yet impenitent is to believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. This of course they cannot do, as it is im- 
possible for anyone to come to God who has not 
entirely forsaken sin. But they imagine they believe, 
and imagine themselves saved, and the results are 
what might be expected. They have no power to 
forsake sin ; no power to resist temptation. When 
the storms of temptation blow, and the floods of evil 
example sweep around them, they are carried onward 
by them to open denial of Christ by their wicked 
conduct. 



42 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

They cannot stand alone against evil, nor stem the 
tide of this wicked world, which constantly sets 
toward hell. The large percent of the converts in 
modern revivals who soon cease to make even a pre- 
tense of religion, shows that the work is not genuine. 
The foundation was entirely lacking, and a very 
slight storm overthrows the work. And not much 
more can truthfully be said of the small percent left 
still with a show of religion. They do not even claim 
to have power over sin, but profess generally that sin 
has dominion over them so that they cannot forsake 
its service. I shall endeavor to show what a genuine 
repentance will do for a sinner, according to the teach- 
ings of the Scriptures. 

i st. In the first place, Repentance is a Godly sorrow 
for sin. The Apostle Paul, in his second letter to 
the Corinthians, informs them that there are two kinds 
of sorrow for sin ; a Godly sorrow and a worldly sor- 
row. " For Godly sorrow worketh repentance to sal- 
vation ; but the sorrow of the world worketh death." 
One of the proofs that their sorrow was Godly is, that 
they sorrowed to repentance. Godly sorrow always 
worketh repentance, that is, reformation of iife. It 
brings men to where they " cease to do evil " and be- 
gin to " learn to do well." A Godly sorrow for sin, is 
such a sorrow as produces in us the same attitude 
toward sin that God occupies. God hates sin. He is 
in eternal opposition to it. " He is of too pure eyes 
to behold iniquity and He cannot look upon sin ! " A 
genuine or Godly sorrow for sin, then, is a feeling of 



REPENTANCE. 43 

hatred for sin, an abhorrence of it, so that it cannot 
be tolerated. But in order that men may thus feel 
toward sin, they must be able to see it in its true light, 
to see it as God sees it. Unless they thus view sin, 
they never will hate it. They never can. So one of 
the works of the Holy Spirit is to convince men of 
sin. " And when he is come he shall reprove the 
world of sin!" (John xvi:8.) The marginal read- 
ing is, " convince the world of sin!" Men have 
learned by tradition to acknowledge themselves sin- 
ners, but they do not know what that means until 
enlightened by the Blessed Spirit. Until men are 
convinced by the Holy Spirit, they have no real sense 
of sin. While they may think of sin as evil, they do 
not feel it to be so. Its enormity and soul-destroying 
properties they have no conception of. It seems to 
them to be desirable in itself, but they fear its conse- 
quences, its wages. This is the view that the natural 
man takes of sin. He has an affinity for it and he 
loves it. If he could persuade himself that there was 
no danger of punishment for sin, he would take his 
fill of it. He imagines it would give him great hap- 
piness to live in sin. Until he sees it differently he 
never will forsake it. He may try various expedients 
for escaping its consequences, but the thing itself he 
clings to. The most of the religion in the world is an 
effort to escape the consequences of sin while still 
practicing it. But these efforts will be found to be 
vain in the end. Men naturally desire happiness now 
and in the future, and they will do many things to 



44 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

assure themselves that future happiness is theirs. They 
will do almost anything but surrender sin. They never 
will be able to relinquish sin while they love it. They 
must then be taught to hate sin. When by the Holy 
Spirit they are made truly acquainted with it, when 
by His light they see it as God sees it, they will 
begin to fear it and desire to be delivered from 
it. And when in their wills they give it up, God 
will begin to give them repentance. When they 
first see the absolute necessity of giving it up 
lest it destroy them forever, they will find it hard to 
let it go. It will seem very dear to them though so 
destructive. But when they resolve to let it go, to 
separate themselves from it, they then will feel their 
feelings toward it rapidly changing. It will begin to 
appear dreadful to them as well as dangerous. The 
sight of it will excite repugnance and abhorrence. Un- 
less God granted them this Godly sorrow, they never 
could actually give up sin however much they might 
wish to do so. Their love for it would make futile all 
their efforts. The first difference then between Godly 
sorrow and worldly sorrow is that the latter is fear of 
the consequences of sin, while the former is abhor- 
rence of sin itself without respect to its consequences. 
"The sorrow of the world worketh death," but not 
reformation. It may seem to produce reformation 
for a short time, but its apparent good effects are not 
lasting, and the result is to harden the sinner and to 
confirm him in his evil ways. The sorrow of the 
world is a purely natural emotion produced by the 



REPENTANCE. 45 

fear of punishment. There is nothing gracious in it. 
Consequently it is not lasting. It grows fainter and 
fainter as the prospect of punishment is lessened. 
When the danger seems imminent, the sorrow is 
great and demonstrative, but just in proportion as the 
danger recedes, the sorrow subsides. The sorrow of the 
Jews as they were again and again punished for their 
backslidings, is a sample of this worldly sorrow. (Ps. 
lxxviii : 34-37.) "When he slew them, then they 
sought him ; and they returned and inquired early 
after God, and they remembered that God was their 
rock, and the high God their Redeemer. Nevertheless 
they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied 
unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not 
right with him, neither were they steadfast in his 
covenant." God says their " goodness was like the 
morning cloud and like the early dew." Nothing but 
God's judgment produced this worldly sorrow and 
consequent attempts at repentance. But the good- 
ness of God leadeth us to true repentance as says the 
Apostle, "The goodness of God leadeth thee to re- 
pentance." (Rom. ii : 4.) Most of the professions of 
repentance at the present day are of the worldly sort, 
and the fruits that follow prove this statement. But 
the blame for this state of things is not wholly with 
the penitents themselves. Probably the most of the 
blame rests upon the men who profess to preach the 
gospel. It takes the real gospel, which is the power 
of God, to bring men to a true repentance. But in 
many instances a gospel is preached which is devoid 



46 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

of Divine power, and depends for its success upon 
human influence and persuasion alone. These can 
never awaken the sinner to a sense of his real condi- 
tion. He is convinced of the danger of continuing in 
sin, without doing something to avert the wrath of 
God. He is persuaded that his future happiness is 
jeopardized. He is not convinced of a present evil, 
but of a future danger. This danger he seeks to es- 
cape. It is future loss he wishes to be insured 
against. The whole drift of the teaching he hears is 
that it is future evil that is to be dreaded. And as 
death will end his opportunity for insuring against 
this evil, and as death is liable to come at any time, 
it seems to be the part of prudence to attend to the 
matter at once. If the time to die was fixed, the 
matter might safely be postponed ; and if he were 
never to die or change his place of residence, it would 
not be necessary to repent at all. That would be the 
legitimate inference from the teaching he hears. So 
having his attention fixed upon the future conse- 
quences of sin, and not upon sin itself, he seeks to 
avoid those consequences instead of seeking to be 
saved from sin. There is no more evidence of grace 
in this effort, than there is in the insurance of his 
house against the contingency of loss by fire. If he 
were sure his house would not burn, he would never 
insure and waste his money in paying premiums. 
But as he knows that his house is always in danger 
of being burned, and that it may happen at any time, 
he parts with his money to secure future safety, or 






REPENTANCE. 47 

rather to provide against future loss. So the sinner who 
is moved by such prudential considerations, agrees to 
part with some things he loves that he may secure 
immunity from future punishment, and the promise 
of future bliss. Such teachers, in order to move men 
to action, do not preach against sin, and endeavor to 
convince men of its deadly nature. They preach about 
death, and relate deathbed scenes to arouse fear ; and 
then talk of the joys of meeting friends in heaven, 
friends who may never have reached there, to inspire 
hope and to excite the natural sensibilities and affec- 
tions. By these natural means they hope to move to 
action those whom God does not move, and whose 
hearts he has not touched. So did not Jesus. He dis- 
couraged every attempt to appeal to the natural affec- 
tions in religious matters. When one said " I will 
follow thee, but suffer me first to go bury my father," 
He replied " Let the dead bury their dead." When 
his mother and his brethren appealed to their natural 
relation to him that they might gain an audience 
while he was preaching he said, " Who is my mother, 
and who are my brethren ? He that doeth the will of 
my Father in Heaven, the same is my mother and 
sister and brother." Neither Christ nor His Apostles 
ever appealed to the fear of death, or the hope of 
meeting friends in glory, as a motive to repentance. 
To rouse the natural sensibilities is to hinder, not to 
aid, the work of salvation. Instead of talking to men 
about meeting their friends, Jesus talks to them of for- 
saking them. Instead of stirring up natural affections, 



48 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

He would inspire Heavenly affections. The one 
leads to a religion that is earthly, sensual and devilish, 
the other to one that is " first pure and then peace- 
able, etc." Men need to repent, not because they are 
mortal, but because they are sinners. If they never 
were to die, they would, all the same, need to repent. 
What sinners need deliverance from is a present evil, 
sin, not a future danger, hell. If there were no sin, 
there would be no hell, and there can be no hell to 
him who is free from sin. The consequence can be 
removed only by the removal of the cause. To be 
afraid of hell but not afraid of sin, is not much of an 
improvement on the character of Satan, and a man 
whose efforts spring from such a motive will always 
remain a child of his father, the devil. Genuine re- 
pentance then is founded upon an apprehension of sin 
produced by the Holy Spirit in those who hear the 
gospel. Until the sinner is thus convinced of sin, he 
can do nothing toward saving his soul. But this 
Divine conviction of sin brings with it the power to 
give it up in our wills. As we decide in our own minds 
to surrender it, the Godly sorrow for sin is given to 
us and we learn to loathe it. We " abhor that which 
is evil." Genuine repentance saves us from the love of 
sin. We cannot have a Godly sorrow for sin and 
feel toward it any other way than God feels toward 
it. If we attempt to forsake sin for fear of the conse- 
quences of sinning, we will return to it as soon as we 
imagine we can escape those consequences, or when 
the danger of punishment seems distant. This is the 



REPENTANCE. 49 

reason why professions of repentance in the face of 
death are so soon forgotten when the danger passes. 
Fear of the consequences of sin is no doubt well 
founded and may well cause the sinner to stop and 
consider, but that fear alone will never bring him to 
repentance. It may hamper him in sinning, and 
restrain his conduct to some extent, but it cannot 
save him from the love of sin. The thief in view of 
the state's prison may bitterly repent his crime be- 
cause of the apparent certainty of the punishment. 
But if he should make his escape from the officer, or 
break jail, he would soon repeat the crime. But if 
after having committed the crime, though having 
escaped detection, he should be seized with remorse 
for the wrong done his neighbor and should so detest 
the idea of being a thief, that he should go to the 
man he had wronged, confess his crime and restore 
the stolen property, it is scarcely supposable that he 
would commit another theft. This illustrates the dif- 
ference between false and genuine repentance. 

" Repentance is to leave 

The things we loved before, 
And show that we in earnest grieve, 
By doing so no more." 

In a sham repentance produced by the "sorrow 
of the world," men see great difference in sins. Some 
seem great, some small. Some heinous, some trivial. 
Unpopular sins are detested ; popular sins tolerated. 
In genuine repentance these distinctions vanish. In 
the light of the Holy Spirit there are no venial sins ; 

S .F. S.-4 



50 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

all sin is mortal. It is deadly. However trivial sin 
may seem to the unawakened, the true penitent sees 
that it springs from a rebellious heart. It is only a 
symptom, whether slight or pronounced, of a deadly 
disease within. There is no difference in the im- 
portance of the symptoms, if they show unmistakably 
the presence of the disease. Consequently he hates 
all sin. He renounces all sinful practices of every 
kind and degree, because they all alike show the 
existence of the dread evil which he fain would be 
delivered from. The Apostle describes in the verses 
following the text, the effects of a Godly sorrow. 
"For behold what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, 
what clearing of yourselves, etc." These effects are 
always produced by the same cause. The professed 
penitent who is not anxious to escape from every- 
thing wrong, who is not ready and willing to be 
reproved for and convinced of the smallest matter, 
gives convincing proof of the falsity of his pro- 
fessions of penitence. The true penitent hates sin 
because it is sin ; not because it is expensive, or in- 
jurious, or degrading, but because it is sinful. He 
hates it just the same if it brings gain or honor or 
success. His great desire is to be right. He is not 
asking happiness, present or future, but righteousness. 
If he secures righteousness, happiness will take care 
of itself. The false penitent says, if I were sure of 
future happiness I would be all right. The true 
penitent says, if I were only all right, I would be 
sure of present and eternal bliss. To be right is the 



REPENTANCE. 5 1 

height of his aspirations. He exclaims with the 
poet: 

"I ask no higher state; 
Indulge me but in this. 
And soon or later then translate 
To my eternal bliss." 

It is not a future hell that worries him, nor the fear 
of it, but the hell of present unholiness ; of not loving 
God. He exclaims in the language of Scripture " O 
wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from 
the body of this death?" It is "this death" that 
troubles him, not future death. This death to God 
and holiness. His soul cries out in "vehement de- 
sire " for deliverance from sin, that he might love and 
serve God alone. It is a present deliverance from a 
present evil that he seeks after, as in salvation he ex- 
periences a present possession of a promised good. 
He " hungers and thirsts after righteousness." The 
desire for happiness is purely natural ; the desire for 
righteousness is supernatural. It comes directly 
from God. If the sinner seeks only for happiness, 
or what amounts to the same thing, to escape from 
misery, he gives no evidence of a work of grace. But 
if he seeks after holiness, or to escape from sin, he 
gives full proof of a gracious state of mind ; for this 
can be nothing less than the work of Divine grace. 
You will often hear persons in giving religious ex- 
perience say that they have a strong desire to make 
their way to Heaven. That proves nothing; every 
sinner wants to go to Heaven because he imagines it 



52 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

would secure his happiness. To ask a congregation 
to express their desire to go to Heaven when they 
die, is to learn nothing regarding their Spiritual 
state. If they should vote for the proposition 
unanimously, it would not show that one of them 
was moved by the Blessed Spirit. But if you 
were to ask them how many of them wished to 
be right just now, something might be learned. 
To teach men, then, to be looking for future hap- 
piness, when they ought to be seeking present 
righteousness, is to substitute for the pure, steady 
light of the Gospel, an ignis fatuus, a fool's light, 
which can lead only to the quagmire of destruc- 
tion. The sure way to miss happiness is to seek 
it for itself alone. But to seek holiness for itself 
alone, is to secure it, and the true happiness which 
cannot be divorced from it. The desire for happi- 
ness has no reference to the will or glory of God, 
but is purely selfish. The desire for righteousness 
has respect to God's will ; for it springs from a sense 
of the fact that righteousness is what pleases God. 
Men want to be right, because they feel God wants 
them to be right. Men are often heard to say that 
they like a religion that "happifies the soul." The 
expression is as questionable in its spirit, as it is false 
in its syntax. It shows that the matter of happi- 
ness is uppermost in the mind of the person who uses 
it. Thus men often reveal their inmost motives by 
the turn of an expression. With every subject of 
God's grace, the matter of righteousness is always 



REPEXTAN'CE. 53 

uppermost. It is not "what will make me happy" 
but "what will please God," that concerns him most. 
While he looks out for this, God will look out for 
that. To recapitulate, then, this Godly sorrow for sin 
is based on a Divine conviction of the nature of sin, 
and a consequent turning of the mind away from 
sin, accompanied by change of feeling toward sin so 
that it becomes hateful to those who once loved it. 
They hate it for what it is, consequently they hate it 
always and everywhere. This abhorrence of sin is 
accompanied by a vehement desire after righteous- 
ness. This " Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto 
salvation." It works entire change of life. 

It causes the sinner to face about and start in the 
opposite direction from the one he has been pursu- 
ing. It produces an entire abandonment of sin, so 
that in outward things the life becomes reformed. 
Mr. Wesley, in the general rules for his societies 
which have been incorporated into the Methodist 
discipline, says that it is expected of those who pro- 
fess a desire for salvation that they evidence that 
desire, first, "by doing no harm." That is a fruit of 
genuine awakening and sincere repentance. They 
"break off their sins by righteousness and their 
iniquities by turning unto the Lord." One of the first 
fruits of genuine repentance is confession of sin. " He 
that covereth his sins shall not prosper ; but whoso 
confesseth and forsaketh them shall find mercy." 
Our sins against God must be confessed to God ; our 
sins against our neighbor, to our neighbor. God's 



54 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

requirement is: "If thou bring thy gift to the altar 
and there rememberest thy brother hath aught against 
thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, first go 
and be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and 
offer thy gift." Genuine repentance signifies real 
honesty. If I have any desire to keep what I have 
obtained by fraud or any dishonest means, I show 
that I have no Godly sorrow for sin. I must be 
honest with God and man before I can find the Divine 
favor. " If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord 
will not hear me." There must be open confession 
of wrongdoing. It is not enough to restore what I 
have dishonestly taken. I must be willing to ac- 
knowledge the sin. Many would be willing to 
restore stolen goods but they dislike the shame of 
confession. They do not wish others to know how 
wicked, or how contemptible their conduct has been. 
But the Lord will never cover our sins until we 
expose them. If we cover them he will expose 
them. He says " there is nothing covered that shall 
not be revealed, or hidden that shall not be made 
known." Thus what men uncover He will cover, so 
that it will never be exposed again. But what men 
cover up in this world, God will uncover in the great 
judgment day. The Lord will never be a party to 
the concealment of unconfessed sin. He is glorified in 
having it exposed. He has never concealed the sins 
of His most faithful servants. Peter's shameful denial 
of Christ and his cowardice and dissimulation after- 
ward, as told by the New Testament writers, are 



REPENTANCE. 5 5 

exposed relentlessly without apology or excuse for 
them. If God would not hide his sin, He will not be 
a party to hiding yours. He expects nothing less of 
you than confession and restitution. You cannot be 
an honest man otherwise, and He will not be a par- 
taker with rogues. '* If we confess our sins, He is 
faithful and just to forgive us our sins." To* wish to 
appear better than we really are, is the veriest 
hypocrisy. The man who really hates sin, hates it 
in himself more intensely than in anyone else. The 
hypocrite opposes everybody's sin but his own. 
That he allows. The honest man denounces his own 
sin first, and has no tolerance of it. The genuine 
penitent is willing that angels and men should know 
him just as he is. To be credited with virtues 
he knows himself destitute of, is painful to him. 
Real penitence makes a man sincere. There is 
nothing kept back in the dark. He is transparent 
like strained honey; "sine cera," without wax. 
You will feel this sincerity when you talk with him ; 
it is so apparent that it seems to surround him 
like an atmosphere. It makes him, frank, candid, in- 
genuous. It drives all the guile and subtlety out of 
him ; all the sham and pretense ; and makes him 
simple as a little child. This true awakening, ac- 
companied by this Godly sorrow, gives a man clear 
vision to discern sin, as well as honesty to confess it. 
No wonder there is joy in the presence of the angels 
of God over one sinner that repenteth ! It is a 
wonderful work ! A good foundation upon which a 



56 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

consistent exemplary Christian life can be built. It 
is far above the common standard of conversion as 
usually taught. Far superior to much that is called 
" Sanctification." The man who has once truly re- 
pented of sin is not likely ever to fall into it again. 
While his fall is possible, so long as he is on proba- 
tion, it is far from probable. Those who so easily 
and frequently relapse into sin, are those who have 
never been real penitents. Those who imagine that 
the Christian life is a succession of backsliding and 
repenting, are living under the wrong dispensation. 
That was characteristic of Judaism, but is not of 
Christianity. Then God was married to the back- 
slider, but now his bride is a chaste virgin, not a re- 
formed harlot. Judaism was fitly represented by the 
moon because it was so inconstant, alternately waxing 
and waning like much of what is called Christianity; 
but real Christianity is represented by the sun which is 
unchangeable, and not subject to such variations. In 
conclusion we repeat : repentance is such a sorrow 
for sin that it causes the soul to feel toward sin as 
God feels toward it. The attitude of the soul toward 
sin is completely changed from that of love to one of 
hatred. This abhorrence of sin causes a great care- 
fulness to avoid it, and be divested of it. It leaves 
no tolerance of sin. This intolerance of sin is fol- 
lowed by an outward abstention from it, a ceasing to 
do evil ; so that true repentance saves from all volun- 
tary transgression. This hatred of sin not only pre- 
serves the soul from present transgression, but fills 



REPENTANCE. 57 

it with a determination to repair, as far as possible, 
all past wrongdoing, by confession and restitution. 
It makes the man honest and sincere. It also pro- 
duces an intense desire to be right, so that right 
hands are unhesitatingly cut off, and right eyes 
plucked out. Nothing seems of value to the peni- 
tent soul that stands in the way of righteousness. 
This is the pearl of great price for which it cheerfully 
sells all, that it may purchase it. Such repentance 
brings the soul to the feet of Jesus in unconditional 
surrender. It is " repentance unto salvation not to 
be repented of." 



REGENERATION 



"Except a man be born again he cannot see the 
kingdom of God." — John iii:3« 

""PHIS subject, like that of Faith and Repentance, 
* has nothing novel about it. And it might seem 
that all had been said and written upon it that could 
be said. Admitting this to be so, it may be profita- 
ble to write it again. Possibly some new light may 
be thrown upon this important Christian doctrine 
and experience. The first thing that strikes the 
reader of this conversation between Christ and Nico- 
demus is the fact that the subject of their conversa- 
tion is entirely new to the Jewish ruler. This would 
not be so surprising if Christ had been talking to the 
Samaritan woman or even to a Jewish publican. They 
might be supposed to be ignorant of Jewish doctrine. 
But certainly this Jewish ruler would be likely to be 
thoroughly acquainted with the Jews' religion. But 
the doctrine of the New Birth was one with which 
Nicodemus was wholly unacquainted. It was incom- 
prehensible to him. If our Lord had spoken to him 
of repentance or forgiveness of sins, he would have 
understood him at once. John the Baptist had been 
preaching repentance and promising pardon of sin, 
and no one was startled or confused by his preaching. 
They saw nothing novel in the things taught, though 
(58) 



REGENERATION. 59 

the manner of teaching was original. The dress of 
the preacher, the meat he ate, the place of his preach- 
ing, were strange and calculated to strike the imagina- 
tion, but the doctrines he taught, and the rite he ad- 
ministered were not new. They recognized at once 
the appropriateness of his call to repentance, and he 
became at once one of the most successful preachers 
the world has seen. But when Christ broached the 
subject of the New Birth to this intelligent and enquir- 
ing Jew, he excited surprise and incredulity. "How 
can these things be," said Nicodemus, " How can a 
man be born when he is old." His question showed 
his complete ignorance of Christ's meaning. He had 
no conception of the Spiritual change of which Christ 
spoke. The reason of this is that the subject spoken 
of was entirely outside of Jewish teaching and ex- 
perience. It is the " mystery which was hidden from 
ages and from generations." It is that thing which 
eye had not seen nor ear heard, neither had it entered 
into the heart of man, because God had kept it for 
those that love Him. And, mirabile dictu ! though the 
mystery was made known more than eighteen hun- 
dred years ago, the experience is almost as uncom- 
mon now, and apparently as impossible to this genera- 
tion, as it was to Nicodemus. Yet it is the central 
thought of Christianity, the keystone of the Gospel 
arch, so that if it be taken away the whole fabric falls. 
Without it Christianity is but a name, an empty shell, 
a "barren ideality," of no practical value, and no 
improvement upon the dispensation which it displaces. 



60 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

It is the experience which distinguishes Christianity 
from Judaism, the Church of Christ from the Church 
of Moses, the inward and Spiritual from the outward 
and typical. It is the distinguishing characteris- 
tic of a child of God. It is paradise regained. It 
brings men into possession of that image of God 
which they lost in the fall. It is the full realization 
in us of the travail of Jesus' soul, so that he is satis- 
fied. He is not ashamed to call such, brethren. It 
is that radical, universal change which takes place in 
the moral nature of a sinner to which God refers when 
He says : " Old things are passed away, behold ! all 
things are become new." I shall proceed to consider : 
First. The necessity of this experience — why 
must a man be born again? The obvious answer is, 
because he is wrong in his first birth. So he needs 
to be born again ; that is, once more. The marginal 
reading is " born from above." In the cortext, he is 
said to be " born of the water and of the Spirit." 
This cannot mean two different births as he needs to 
be born but once more. " Again" means "once 
more." So the second birth must be either of water 
or of the Spirit, but not of both, unless they are the 
same. Some have suggested that but one birth is 
meant but that the water represents the mother and 
the Spirit the Father. This is too absurd to merit 
serious consideration. What would the offspring be 
if it partook of the nature of both parents ? The fact 
no doubt is that Christ here brings together in one 
view the type and the antetype, as is so often done 



REGENERATION. 6 1 

by ihe New Testament writers. In all such cases the 
Greek conjunction, kai, should be translated "even" 
instead of "and." We would then read " of water 
even of the Spirit." "The Holy Ghost even fire." 
"The washing of regeneration even the renewing of 
the Holy Ghost." " God, even the Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ" etc. There were various wash- 
ings under the law which are all typical of this Spirit- 
ual cleansing, in this place called the New Birth. 
Jesus is here speaking of an experience which is abso- 
lutely essential, without which the Kingdom of God 
cannot be seen. There is no such a necessity for any 
emblematical birth. The want of it cannot hinder, 
nor the possession of it help, in seeing the Heavenly 
Kingdom. It is a Spiritual birth then of which Christ 
is speaking, which will correct the deficiences of the 
first. In our first birth we derive our moral nature by 
natural generation from fallen Adam. So, " That which 
is born of the flesh is flesh." That cannot mean that 
only the flesh or body is born in our natural birth. 
For the whole man, body, soul, and spirit, is born 
into the world at birth. If that were Jesus' meaning 
the passage would read, " That which is born of the 
flesh is the flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit 
is the Spirit." This would mean that the body is born 
in the first birth and the spirit is born in the 
second birth. As has been already said, that state- 
ment is not true to fact, as the whole man is born in 
the first birth. The words "flesh" and "Spirit" are 
used here, as in so many other places in the inspired 



62 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

writings, to express moral qualities. They are used 
as adjectives, as if Christ had said : That which is born 
of the flesh is fleshly, that is, unholy ; and that which 
is born of the Spirit is Spiritual, that is, holy. These 
words are used by our Lord as elsewhere by the New 
Testament writers, to describe the moral states of the 
regenerate and the unregenerate. The reason, then, 
why we need to be born again is because we are 
fleshly in our first birth. We are born unholy. After 
Adam lost God's moral image he could not com- 
municate it to his offspring. So we all come into 
the world destitute of that image. Natural depravity 
is a fact so emphatically taught by experience and 
observation, that he must be bold indeed who denies 
it. It is not taught in God's word only, but all his- 
tory and experience proclaim it. The natural bent 
of man toward evil is so apparent that the pagan 
writers speak of it as an undoubted fact. How much 
more ready children are to follow evil example than 
good. If there is no bent to sinning how can we 
account for the fact of the universal departure from 
right living? Why do all men know better than they 
do, if they are as free to move in one direction as the 
other? The evil example of one child will infect the 
children of a whole community ; but how little effect 
will one good example have. I know that the doc- 
trine of human depravity is becoming more and more 
unpopular at the present time, but that does not in 
the least change the fact. Man is just as corrupt by 
nature as ever he was, however opinions may change. 



REGENERATION. 63 

There are thpse who object to the phrase, "total de- 
pravity," as expressive of the natural state of man. 
They ask if man is totally depraved at birth how he 
can ever become any worse than that. He certainly 
never can become any more depraved. But the ob- 
jection arises from a misunderstanding of the meaning 
of the term " total depravity." It is negative in its 
meaning and expresses nothing positive. It simply 
expresses what man has not, and not what he has. 
It means that he is totally deprived or destitute of 
something. It says nothing as to what he has or 
is. The thing he is totally destitute of is goodness, 
righteousness. To affirm then that man by nature is 
totally depraved, is to assert that by nature he has 
no goodness, no righteousness. These words teach 
that man is lost, ruined, separated from God. That 
all men of every age, condition, clime, are under sin, 
slaves to an evil nature. That they are evil trees that 
can produce nothing but evil fruit. They teach that 
God has concluded all men under sin that he may 
have mercy upon all. That salvation is the free gift 
of God because man can do nothing to merit or earn 
it. That all efforts on his part to merit God's favor 
are obnoxious to God. That all their righteousness 
is "filthy rags" in His sight. The poet has not 
overdrawn the picture when he says : 

" Lord, we are vile, conceived in sin; 
We're born unholy and unclean; 
Sprung from the man whose guilty fall 
Corrupts his race and taints us all." 



64 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

I shall cite but one passage of Scripture to prove 
the doctrine of human depravity and its totality. 
(Rom. vii : 18.) " For I know that in me (that is, in 
my flesh) dwelleth no good thing." That is a plain 
statement of the doctrine. It is not necessary to go 
to the hyperbolical expressions of the Old Testament 
to prove the doctrine. Here it is literally set forth. 
If there dwelleth no good thing in a man while in his 
natural state, then he is totally destitute of good, that 
is, totally depraved. But some one may object that 
the Apostle is speaking of his body, and simply 
asserts that there is nothing good in it. But if there 
is anything good in a man it is in his body. The 
same Apostle tells us that our " bodies are the tem- 
ple of the Holy Ghost." But, says the objector, I 
mean that there is no good in the substance of the 
body. Certainly not ; for the substance of the body 
is matter, and moral quality cannot be predicated of 
matter. The Apostle might as well have stopped to 
declare that there was no good thing in a stock or a 
stone. Who ever supposed there was? The Apostle 
uses this same term " flesh" frequently, in this epistle, 
as well as in his other writings, always to signify the 
natural state. So we are to suppose he uses it in 
the same sense in this place, if it will bear that sense, 
as it certainly will. He states then that in him, in his 
natural unregenerate state, there dwelleth no good 
thing. He was also speaking of himself as a repre- 
sentative man ; he was proving a general proposi- 
tion, and his illustrations are used to that end. If, 



REGENERATION. 65 

then, this was true of the Apostle and he was speak- 
ing of himself as a representative of the race, it is 
true of every man, that in him naturally dwelleth no 
good thing. That is total depravity. In his first 
birth, then, man inherits a fallen depraved moral 
nature. His propensities and affections are wrong. 
He naturally loves evil and hates good. " He loves 
darkness rather than light."" The Apostle Paul tells 
us that "The carnal mind is enmity against God." 
Enmity against God is the essence of the carnal 
mind, the natural heart of man. He tells us further 
that "It is not subject to the law of God, neither in- 
deed can be." It cannot be subject to God's law. 
So then men in their natural state, who " are in the 
flesh," cannot please God. This " law of sin in the 
members" makes them slaves to sin, so that while they 
may will to do right, they have no power to carry out 
their good resolutions. We are told in the first of 
the seventh chapter of Romans, that God's people 
were first married to the law, but they "brought 
forth fruit unto death." The result of this union was 
that the offspring was unholy. This was not the fault 
of the law for "The law was holy and just and good." 
The fault lay in the wife, not in the husband. But 
the first husband is declared dead, that another union 
may take place, that we may "bring forth fruit unto 
God." But this change of husbands can do no good 
unless there is a change in the wife. But what the law 
could not do, Christ the sin offering does. He "con- 
demns this sin in the flesh," dooms it to destruction, 
s. f. s.— 5 



66 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

so that the righteousness of the law may be ful- 
filled in us, his people. "They that are Christ's have 
crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts." " Our 
old man is crucified with him that the body of sin 
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not 
serve sin." Unless this were done, we would still 
serve sin, as thousands can testify. The reason why 
men cannot serve God and produce the fruits of 
obedience, is because they have unholy natures, 
averse to God, which cannot be subject to his law. 
Until this is changed men can never have fellowship 
with God, nor "bring forth fruit unto holiness." The 
reason why men need to be born again is that they 
are wrong in their first birth. They do not need to 
be born again because they have sinned against God. 
They need pardon for their past offenses but that 
will not give them any power to change their lives. 
They needed to be born again before they sinned 
the first time, and to forgive those offenses would at 
best but place them back where they began ; and 
the cause that produced transgression in the past 
would still produce it, unless it be removed. This 
cause is the evil heart of unbelief. Until the tree is 
made good, removing the fruit will have no corrective 
effect. As soon as the tree fruits again, it will still 
produce the same kind of fruit as before. What is 
wanted is to make the tree good by changing its 
nature. This, regeneration accomplishes. 

Second. We consider in the second place the nature 
of regeneration: "That which is born of the Spirit is 



REGENERATION. 6j 

Spirit," or Spiritual. Jesus uses the word "Spirit" 
here in the same sense in which he uses it in John 
vi : 63, "The words that I speak unto you they are 
Spirit and they are life." The word is here used 
adjectively, and not as a substantive. So it is in the 
former passage. Those who are born of the flesh, 
who derive their moral nature from fallen Adam, are 
fleshly, carnal, unholy. Those who are born of the 
Spirit, who derive their moral nature from God, are 
Spiritual, holy, pure. They are recreated as to their 
moral nature. They are " Created in Christ Jesus 
unto good works." They are " Born again, not of 
corruptible seed, but of the Word of God, who 
liveth and abideth forever." When a soul is awakened, 
it is said to be begotten, and if it does not resist God 
it will surely be brought to the birth. The change 
brought about in the New Birth is from natural to 
Spiritual. From the moral image of Satan to the 
moral image of God. From being an evil tree which 
can produce nothing but bad fruit to a good tree 
which can produce nothing but good fruit. This 
change is from its nature instantaneous. As it is im- 
possible that we should be at the same time the 
children of God and the children of the Devil, there 
must be a place where and a time when we cease to 
be the one and become the other. The approach 
may be more or less protracted, since it depends to 
a great extent upon the subject of grace. But the 
work of recreation is God's work, and " He speaks 
and it is done." As a rule in experience, this moment 



68 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

is very clearly marked in the consciousness of the 
person born again. There may be exceptions to the 
rule, as to the realization of this experience, but there 
must be a time when the fact of sonship is first 
realized, and this must be the time when the relation 
begins. The more swift the -approach to this ex- 
perience, the more powerful is the impression likely 
to be that is made upon the consciousness, in this 
wonderful change. In analyzing this experience, 
there are two separate works to be considered, 
though they are not separate in the consciousness. 
First, the destruction of the old nature, and, second, 
the bringing in of the new nature. The second is 
conditional upon the first. That is, the new nature 
cannot be brought in until the old nature is taken 
away. The promise is, " I will take the stony heart 
out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." The 
first work is, then, the removal of the stony heart. 
The Apostle agrees with the prophet as to the order 
of procedure. He says (Eph. iv: 22-24): " That 
ye put off concerning the former conversation the old 
man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful 
lusts ; and be renewed in the spirit of your 
mind ; and that ye put on the new man, which 
after God is created in righteousness and true holi- 
ness." And again (Col. iii : 9-10) : " Seeing that ye 
have put off the old man with his deeds ; and have 
put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, 
after the image of him that created him." Again 
in Rom. vi, we are taught that the old man is cruci- 



REGENERATION. 69 

fied with Christ, and buried with Him, and the new 
man is raised up from the dead to walk in newness of 
life. Again in II. Cor. v : 17, we read, "Therefore 
if any man be in Christ he is a new creature : old 
things are passed away ; behold ! all things are be- 
come new." I am thus explicit on this point be- 
cause, though the order set forth in what has been 
said is both Scriptural and philosophical, it is denied 
by some who entirely reverse it in their teachings. 
They teach that the new man is first put on and then 
after a time the old man is put off. This certainly 
seems like doing things backwards. Not only is this 
order contrary to nature and to all the types, but it 
has not one passage of Scripture to stand on. It 
was invented in the first place to fit some people's 
experience, and then authority for it was sought in 
the Scripture, and some passages which at first sight 
might seem to favor the theory were seized upon and 
used to bolster up the theory. That they are thus 
made to contradict other passages, is either overlooked 
or disregarded. The passage in Corinthians, quoted 
above, ought to settle the question at once. "If any 
man be in Christ he is a new creature : old things are 
passed away; behold, all things are become new." 
Mr. Wesley in his sermon on "sin in believers," says 
of this passage: "All things are become new; but 
not wholly new." From the prejudices of early edu- 
cation and from reading his works, I have great rev- 
erence for John Wesley. He had great logical 
acumen. But he ought to be ashamed of that 



JO SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

statement. It is unworthy of both his honesty and his 
ability. Its casuistry is worthy of the old Catholic 
theologians. How can a thing be new and not 
wholly new ? Is an old implement worked over and 
having some old parts replaced by new, a new imple- 
ment? If a carriage maker, for instance, were to 
sell an old vehicle with some if its parts new, and the 
whole repainted and revarnished, as a new carriage, 
would he not be liable to indictment for fraud ? But 
the Lord says "Old things are passed away." What 
remains then must be new. How could the passage 
more clearly express an entirely new creation? 
This work is called a creation. It is said we are 
" Created in Christ Jesus." How can a new creation 
have old material in it? The Lord evidently be- 
lieves his work will bear close inspection, for he calls 
special attention to it. " Behold," He says, " All things 
are become new." Upon the man who denies this, 
lies the burden of proof, to show that God does not 
mean what he says, and uses language calculated to 
deceive. We will still understand Him, when He de- 
clares that old things are passed away and, behold ! all 
things are become new, to mean that an entirely new 
creation has taken place ; that the old man is cruci- 
fied and destroyed, dead and buried, and the new 
man has risen to walk in newness of life. When 
we are instructed to put off the old man and put 
on the new man, we will not endeavor to put the 
new man on over the old, and then put the 
old man off afterward. If we should succeed 



REGENERATION. 7 1 

in doing such a strange thing we would pre- 
sent the anomaly, after putting the new man on, 
and before putting the old man off, of having two 
distinct moral natures, diametrically opposed to 
each other: the one hating God, the other lov- 
ing Him; the one in obedience to His law, the 
other in open rebellion. t The believer would have at 
the same time, the carnal mind and the mind of 
Christ. If such a thing is possible there certainly 
could be no difficulty in serving two masters, because 
the converted man would love the one and hold to 
the other, both at the same time. But it may be sug- 
gested that the new man would keep the old man 
under. Under what? Under obedience? This is 
declared by the Apostle to be impossible. It is not 
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. If 
the carnal mind could be subjected to the law of God 
so that it would not disobey it, then it would not be 
necessary to take it away in order to the bringing 
forth of good fruit. There is not one word in the 
Scripture about keeping the carnal mind under. Much 
is said about crucifying it, destroying it, putting it 
off, but not one word about keeping it down. That 
idea had its origin in man's imagination. God is not 
responsible for it. The Apostle says (Rom. vi) : 
" Knowing this that our old man is crucified with 
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that 
henceforth we should not serve sin." If the old man 
is crucified and destroyed in order that we might not 
serve sin, the necessary inference is that until it is 



J2 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

destroyed we will serve sin. Upon the supposition 
of two moral natures in us at once, not only would 
it be possible to serve two masters, but it would be 
impossible to do otherwise. Evidently Jesus knew 
nothing of such a state of things as this. He conceived 
of a good tree and a bad tree, but of one both good 
and bad at the same time he seems to have been 
ignorant. The supposition of two opposite moral 
natures at the same time is an absurdity. As well 
might we suppose that an apple might be both sweet 
and sour at the same time, or water both fresh and 
salt. But whether the supposition is admissible or 
not, no such theory is taught in the Scriptures, but 
just the opposite is plainly taught. I hold, then, that 
in regeneration the carnal mind, the flesh, the old 
man, the body of sin, is first destroyed, crucified, put 
off, buried, and then the new man is put on. As it 
is true that so many as have been baptised into Jesus 
Christ have been baptised into his death, as to the 
old man, it is also true that as many as have been 
baptised into Christ have put on Christ, that is, the 
new man. This new man is said to be righteousness 
and true holiness. It is the mind of Christ. It is the 
image of God. And as God is love, the new man is 
love ; love to God and man. Love to God that pro- 
duces universal obedience. For, says Christ, " If 
any man love me he will keep my words." Love to 
man that worketh no ill to his neighbor. As the old 
sinful nature is destroyed, the man who is born 
again finds himself *at liberty to serve God. Sin 



REGENERATION. 73 

has no dominion over him ; no compelling power. 
There is nothing in his nature that hinders him 
in the service of God, for the old things that 
once hampered him are passed away. The new 
nature just as naturally produces the fruit of 
obedience as the old nature did the fruit of 
sin. He has no inclination to go away from God. 
Gravitation is turned the other way and he is drawn 
toward God, but repelled by sin. He is in a new 
kingdom of which God is the center, and all things 
are drawn toward the center. He feels no proneness 
to leave God. The evil heart of unbelief, in depart- 
ing from the living God, has been taken out of him, 
and a new one of another bent has been given him. 
When the old man died out of him, he lost his bent 
to sinning. He no longer complains of his heart, for 
God has given him a new heart, perfect and pure. 
He is at liberty to serve God with all his ransomed 
powers. The Son has made him free, and he is free 
indeed. If he committed sin, he would be the slave 
of sin, but, being made free from sin, and become 
the servant of God, he has his fruit unto holiness and 
the end everlasting life. He is tempted to sin, but 
has grace to resist the temptation, so that he need 
not enter into it. He is enabled by the grace of 
God to keep under his body, all its appetites and 
propensities, so that he only gratifies them lawfully, 
and then in moderation and temperance. As he is 
born from above, born of God, he has assurance of 
this new relation given him. 



74 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Third, I will consider in the third place the 
evidences of regeneration. These are two: the tes- 
timony of our own spirit, or consciousness ; and 
the testimony of the Holy Spirit. It is not to be 
supposed that such a change could take place in 
the affections of any human being, and he be un- 
conscious of it. The transition from darkness to 
light, and from the power of Satan unto God, is too 
stupendous a change to permit anyone to remain 
in ignorance of it, who is the subject of it. It 
is as easily known as the change from pain to 
pleasure, from labor to rest, from thirst to satiety, 
from anxiety to indifference, or any other change, 
either mental or physical. To assert, then, that any- 
one could become a child of God and not know it or 
be clearly conscious of it, is to assert an absurdity. 
It cannot be conceived how such a change could take 
place without powerfully arresting the attention. And 
so clear and certain would this testimony of con- 
sciousness be, that it might be supposed that it 
would be amply sufficient to prove the event beyond 
a doubt. And in natural things it is. There can be 
no testimony more convincing than the testimony of 
consciousness. It outweighs a thousand opposing 
arguments. It is a fact that cannot be gainsaid. Yet 
consciousness may deceive us, not as to the fact of 
its existence, but as to its origin or cause. It may 
seem to us to proceed from a certain cause, when in 
reality it proceeds from an entirely different cause. 
But this deception so seldom occurs that in natural 



REGENERATION. 75 

things we are left to ascertain the truth of the matter 
as best we can, or rest in the deception. These mat- 
ters are not of so much importance that we should 
be furnished with any testimony concerning them 
higher than reason or consciousness. But the mat- 
ter of our relation to God is of such paramount im- 
portance that no human being can afford to be mis- 
taken concerning it. If there remains the possibility 
of a doubt in our minds as to the certainty of our 
acceptance with God, the mind would be continually 
racked with suspicion and fear, and confidence and 
assurance would be impossible. The most tender 
conscience, and the mind most thoroughly imbued 
with a sense of the infinite importance of the ques- 
tion of its relation to God, would be most tormented. 
Like Noah's dove, it would find no rest on the 
turbulent sea of doubt and terror. Nor could 
any quiet be reached except in indifference or 
despair. The reason why men are content to 
rest without assurance is because they are so in- 
different respecting the matter of their acceptance 
with God. But the truly awakened soul who is 
enabled to look at all things in the light of eternity 
cannot be indifferent on the subject. For him the 
question must be answered, the uncertainty must end, 
and he must know whether God is his father or not. 
Nothing short of absolute certainty can quiet his fear 
and banish all his doubts. If there were no testi- 
mony that would effectually settle the controversy, 
the awakened soul, the submissive soul, would be 



j6 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

most miserable of all. Fortunately for the repose of 
sincere souls, God has provided a witness whose 
credibility and veracity are unimpeachable. "The 
Spirit itself beareth witness with our Spirit that we are 
the children of God." (Rom. viii:i6.) " Hereby 
we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which 
he hath given us." (I. John iii : 24.) "After that 
ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of 
promise." (Eph. i:i3.) We cannot trust to the 
testimony of our own spirit alone, however clearly it 
may speak. We cannot but be conscious of the 
emotions that fill our souls, but we fear they may 
come from some other source than the Spirit of God, 
unless God himself speaks to us and tells us we are 
His. We must have His word for it. But 

" When Jesus shows his mercy mine 
And whispers I am his," 

then every fear is lulled, every doubt is banished, and 
assurance and certainty take the place of distrust. 
"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the 
Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, 
Father." (Gal. iv:6.) God's word settles the 
question forever. No place is left for doubt or fear, 
and the soul rejoices in the Divine Spirit of sonship 
and heirship. It approaches God in full assurance 
of faith, with a blessed sense of its new relation to 
Him. Not the testimony of men and angels could 
give such assurance as does the testimony of the 
Holy Spirit. But it may be asked, "How can the 



REGENERATION. J 7 

soul know that God is speaking?" Certainly God 
can so reveal Himself to the soul as to satisfy it of His 
identity. If finite man can satisfy his fellowman of 
his identity, certainly the Infinite God can communi- 
cate with His creatures in such a way as to assure 
them of His identity. How He does it I cannot ex- 
plain ; that He does it I am absolutely certain. When 
God speaks to man he is as sure of the fact as of 
his own existence. He can no more doubt the one 
than the other. He may imagine that God speaks 
to him when He does not speak, as I may imagine I 
am awake when I am dreaming. But when God 
does speak to him he knows it, just as when I am 
awake I know it, and that I am not dreaming. In 
conclusion, we repeat that the necessity of regenera- 
tion lies in the fact that man is unholy in his birth ; 
totally lost from God and destitute of all goodness ; 
having an unholy nature and wrong affections, hating 
God and loving sin. That the nature of regenera- 
tion is a radical, universal change of that moral na- 
ture, so that the "old man," the " carnal mind," "the 
flesh," is "crucified," "destroyed," "put off," 
" buried," and the " new man," "Christ," "the mind 
of Christ," is "raised up" and "put on," so that the 
regenerated person walks in "newness of life," " brings 
forth fruit unto holiness," has " the righteousness of 
the law fulfilled " in him, so that he loves God with 
all his heart and his neighbor as himself. The evi- 
dence of this great change is found, first, in the testi- 
mony of his own spirit, or consciousness, and, second, 



J. \ 

78 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

in the testimony or witness of the Holy Spirit with 
his spirit. These two witnesses conjoined give the 
believer full assurance of his sonship, enable him to 
call God his father with confidence, and forever set- 
tle all doubts and fears as to his acceptance with 
God. Reader, have you this indubitable witness? 



JUSTIFICATION 



"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? 
It is God that justifieth." — Rom. viii : 33. 

""THE original Greek word which is sometimes trans- 
* lated ''justification" is also often translated 
"righteousness," and it seems that the context alone 
determines which word more properly represents the 
original. The two words then must be very closely 
related in their meaning. The original word is a legal 
term, and is used in judicial decisions. It represents 
the verdict rendered and sometimes means condem- 
nation, though the root meaning is acquittal. In all 
judicial decisions there must be some standard of 
judgment, some law or custom with which the con- 
duct of the person on trial must be compared. If, 
upon comparison, the conduct of the accused is found 
to be in harmony with the standard, he is acquitted 
of blame and is pronounced right, as to the standard 
of judgment. That is, he is justified. The same per- 
son may be acquitted as to one standard and con- 
demned as to another. A man may be right in law, 
but wrong in equity ; because the standards are dif- 
ferent. If we bear in mind that all justification must 
have respect to some standard of judgment, it will 
help to keep the subject clear to our understanding. 
It will follow then that the justification is different as 

(79) 



80 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

the standard is different. Heathen justification, if 
there be such a thing, will differ from Christian justi- 
fication, for they are judged by different standards. 
St. Paul says that " They which have not the law, are 
a law unto themselves, etc." The Old Testament be- 
lievers must have been judged by a different standard 
from those under the new covenant, as they were jus- 
tified while doing things that would instantly con- 
demn a Christian. For instance, they were polyga- 
mists, they hated their enemies, were slaveholders, 
etc. In fact it is clear that the same life was neither 
required nor expected of them as is both required 
and expected of Christians. Because no provision 
had yet been made for their cleansing, it was not ex- 
pected that they would be free from sin, in their con- 
duct. The moral law, God's standard of perfection 
in heart and life, has ever been the same ; but Old 
Testament believers were expected to measure up to 
the standard in neither heart nor life. The condition 
of justification has been the same in all dispensations, 
and that condition is faith. So in this respect Abra- 
ham's justification is a sample of all justification. He 
" believed God and it was counted unto him for right- 
eousness" or justification. The subject for our con- 
sideration is not heathen justification or justification 
under the law, but justification under the Gospel, or 
Christian justification. 

One of the most common mistakes made with ref- 
erence to this subject, is the confounding justification 
with pardon of sin. Pardon is an act of clemency in 



JUSTIFICATION. 8 1 

passing by offenses. Justification is a proclamation 
of innocence, of righteousness. Pardon has reference 
to the past, justification to the present. It is true 
that the New Testament writers do not use the term 
precisely, sometimes using it, apparently, for the 
whole work of salvation, as in the text of this dis- 
course. But I do not know of a single instance 
where it is used specifically to mean pardon of sin. 
Pardon of sin is always presumed in justification, but 
so is regeneration in the justification of a Christian. 
And we have no more warrant for confounding it 
with the one than with the other. Justification is 
neither pardon nor renewal, but is predicated upon 
both of them. That justification is not synonymous 
with pardon, is clear when we recollect that it is 
applied to God. In Ps. li : 4 David says, " Against 
thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in 
thy sight; that thou mightest be justified when thou 
speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." It is 
evident pardon is not meant there. In I. Tim. iii : 16 
we read : " God was manifest in the flesh, justified in 
the Spirit," etc. Neither can pardon be meant here. 
I think it will clearly appear from what has been said 
that those who in their teaching confound justifica- 
tion with pardon make a grievous mistake and falsely 
interpret the Scriptures. A sinner must be pardoned 
before he can be justified, for he cannot be clear 
while there are offenses unatoned for. He can 
become clear in but two ways ; either he must suffer 
the penalty of the violated law to the end, or he must 

S. F. S.-6 



82 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

be pardoned. In either case the law would have no 
further hold upon him, and he can be pronounced 
clear, or justified. But pardon is no more his justi- 
fication than the suffering of the penalty would be. 
It is a necessary preliminary to it. He cannot be 
justified until either the punishment or the pardon 
has taken place. 

In the Christian sense, justification is that act of 
God our Judge, by which He acquits us of all guilt, 
and pronounces us free from the condemnation of, 
and in harmony with, the holy law of God. It is 
God's verdict as to our relation to His law. 

In the beginning God gave man a law that he 
might live by obedience. No doubt all holy intelli- 
gences live by obedience to a holy and perfect law. 
Man in his pristine state of holiness and human per- 
fection was able to keep God's law both in its letter 
and spirit without mistake or fault. The require- 
ments of the law were suited to man's abilities. No 
doubt this is also true of the angels and whatever 
other holy intelligences there may be in the universe. 
They need no grace but are periectly able to main- 
tain their standing by obedience to the law. But 
man failed to do this. Through the solicitations of 
a tempter, the woman fell, and the man through the 
solicitations of his wife. They were free to stand by 
obedience or to fall by disobedience. They chose to 
do the latter, and became involved in guilt and sin. 
They lost both the favor and image of God. The 
law of God condemned them for what they had done 



JUSTIFICATION. 83 

and what they had become. They lost their God- 
likeness and their innocence, and also their ability to 
keep the law. They were in a desperate condition. 
For even had the past been blotted out they had no 
power to stand for the future, and could they have 
kept the law for the future they had no way of aton- 
ing for the past. Thus they were doubly lost. But 
God, Who is rich in mercy, though He had never had 
the opportunity of showing it, devised a plan for man's 
redemption and restoration to His favor and image. 
As they could not keep the law He provided a Re- 
deemer who could ; and as they were obnoxious to 
punishment, He provided a Substitute, who should be 
wounded for their transgressions, and bruised for 
their iniquities. Without entering into the question 
of the exact nature of the atonement made by the 
Redeemer, we understand that His sufferings were 
vicarious, and of such a nature that they satisfied the 
requirements of the Divine law, so that God can be 
just in passing by the offenses of the sinner who be- 
lieves in the Redeemer. This Redeemer, Jesus 
Christ, the Divine Son of God, the incarnate Word, 
suffered and died for all men, in the sense, first, that 
all men are delivered by Him from the guilt of the 
first transgression, so that no man shall suffer in the 
future life for any sin but his own. Second, that he 
is the possible Savior of all men, the merits of His suf- 
ferings being available for the salvation of every lost 
descendant of Adam. But He is the actual Savior of 
such only as appropriate to themselves these merits 



84 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

by faith. The law required that suffering should be 
undergone as the penalty of transgression. This suf- 
fering, sufficient to vindicate the law and satisfy its 
claims, our Substitute underwent. And God can, in 
justice, accept His sufferings in lieu of ours and let us 
go free from punishment upon our acceptance of the 
Substitute. But the law also requires perfect obe- 
dience in thought, word and deed. This we are as 
unable to render as to atone for our past sins. But 
the law must be perfectly kept by some one. So in 
this respect also Christ is our Substitute. He kept 
the law in every jot and tittle ; without mistake and 
without infirmity ; in its spirit and in its letter. He 
magnified the law and made it honorable by His per- 
fect obedience to it, as well as by undergoing its pen- 
alties. God's law requires us to be right as well as 
act right. It respects the affections and intentions as 
well as the outward conduct. Jesus tells us that all 
the law and the prophets hang upon loving God with 
all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. This is 
the essence, the righteousness, of the law. As long 
as we fail to do this, we are violators of the law of 
God as much as if we were guilty of murder or theft. 
And as this is the law by which we are judged, the 
standard by which we are tried, we must measure up 
to it before we can be acquitted, or our Substitute 
must do it for us. Now if, as the Antinomians teach, 
Christ suffered just exactly what the law would have 
required of all those for whom He died, and rendered 
obedience to the law equal to all that could have been 



JUSTIFICATION. 85 

required of them, then this suffering and this obe- 
dience could not justly be required twice, and those 
atoned for need neither suffer nor obey. But this is 
not the teaching of Scripture. Christ's sufferings and 
obedience are sufficient to satisfy the requirements of 
God's law, so that God can pardon the sins of those 
who trust in Jesus, and cover those transgressions and 
shortcomings which are the necessary results of our 
present imperfect state. But it is not proposed that 
our Substitute shall render for us the love that the 
law requires. He does for us only what we cannot 
do for ourselves. We cannot atone for our guilty 
past, so He does it for us. We cannot divest ourselves 
of the imputed guilt of Adam's sin, so He takes it 
away, that sin of the world. We cannot, while our 
bodies are still under the curse, and all our faculties 
weakened and disordered, keep the letter of the law 
perfectly. So, since God does not see fit to restore 
us to human perfection till the resurrection, He 
covers these technical defects in our obedience with 
the merits of His own- perfect obedience. But we can 
be brought to love God with all our hearts and our 
neighbors as ourselves, so He restores us in our 
moral nature to that purity and uprightness which 
we lost in the fall, and causes the righteousness of 
the law to be fulfilled in us. Spiritually we are re- 
deemed, though physically we are not, but will be 
after while. It is required of us that love shall in- 
spire all our conduct. To us, love is the fulfilling 
of the law. Now as the law requires, not only the 



86 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

canceling of past guilt, but the love of God and our 
neighbor, and provision has been made so that we 
may fulfill this requirement, it follows that we can- 
not be pronounced clear of guilt and transgression 
unless we do these things. We cannot be justified 
in the sight of God unless we measure up to the re- 
quirements of His law, so far as it is possible for us 
to do. It is possible for us to love God with all our 
hearts and our neighbor as ourselves. Provision is 
made that we may be thus saved. Consequently it 
follows that until we do this we cannot be justified 
before God. 

It is quite a common practice among some re- 
ligious teachers to contrast justification and sancti- 
fication to the disadvantage and discredit of the 
former. They teach that sanctification is a much 
higher state of grace than justification. This teach- 
ing is wholly unwarranted by Scripture. These two 
experiences are never so compared by any of the 
New Testament writers. The one is never repre- 
sented as being higher or greater than the other. 
When the Apostle holds up the Christian for universal 
inspection and challenges the universe to lay any- 
thing to his charge, he bases his confidence upon the 
fact that God justifies him. It is very true that he is 
sanctified also, but this the Apostle does not mention. 
His argument is, if God justifies him there can noth- 
ing wrong be discovered in him. Neither the demons 
in Hell nor the angels in Heaven can find any fault 
in him. That certainly does not argue a low state of 



JUSTIFICATION. 87 

grace. Can there possibly be a higher gracious state 
than this? This comparison of sanctification and 
justification is not only unscriptural, it is unphiloso- 
phical and absurd. We can only compare things of 
the same kind or class. But these two works of grace 
do not belong to the same class. The one is moral, 
the other legal. Sanctification is the work of the 
Holy Spirit in making us new creatures. It is a 
moral change, from inward defilement to inward 
purity. It is done in us. Justification is God's' ver- 
dict upon that work, on the man who is the subject 
of it. It is just as reasonable to compare God's work 
in creating man holy, and His work when He pro- 
nounced him very good. How could one of these 
be higher than the other? Nor is it proper to speak 
of pardon of sin and sanctification as being higher or 
lower. The sanctified man who was unforgiven 
would be equally lost with the pardoned man who 
was unsanctified. But to have both is certainly 
higher than to have but one, and in this the 
Christian's preeminence consists. To speak slight- 
ingly then of a state of justification is a most foolish 
and unwarranted proceeding, and simply convicts the 
person who does it of ignorance. It is very true of 
many others than the Sadducees, that they do greatly 
err, not knowing the Scriptures, neither the power of 
God. The mistake of such persons is that they are 
comparing a supposed state of present salvation with 
a past state of disobedience and condemnation, in- 
stead of a past state of justification. To maintain 



88 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

that the Lord justified in such a state as they claim 
to have been in, is to charge God foolishly and to 
discredit His judgment. They themselves cannot 
justify what they accuse God of justifying. 

The Scripture writers evidently know nothing of 
low state and high state in Christian experience. In 
Rom. v. the Apostle Paul speaks of justification 
by faith, and does not mention regeneration or 
sanctification, but his language shows that he pre- 
sumed the justified person to be also sanctified. In 
the fifth verse he says, "And hope maketh not 
ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in 
our heart by the Holy Ghost given unto us." Here, 
then, the justified person is said to have received the 
gift of the Holy Ghost. And it is agreed on all hands 
that the gift or baptism of the Holy Spirit results in 
the sanctification of the recipient. This is what they 
received at Pentecost, and those who make the dis- 
tinction controverted, themselves teach that at Pente- 
cost men were sanctified. But those of whom the 
Apostle speaks as being justified had that also. So 
far as I can learn, this invidious comparison between 
these two works was never known until the eighteenth 
century. Mr. Wesley is responsible for it; but he 
never in his writings or teachings carried it to the 
absurd length that others have since. Mr. Wesley 
was a minister of the Church of England and a high 
churchman. He was indebted to the Moravians for 
his first instruction in experimental religion. But he 
afterward differed from their leader, Count Zinzen- 



JUSTIFICATION. 89 

dorf, on this very point. Zinzendorf held only one 
degree in Christianity. Mr. Wesley would have been 
compelled to unchristianize the whole English Church 
and most of his own followers if the standard were 
held so high. It is true he had done this for many 
years, but afterward changed his opinions. He, him- 
self, bases this change of opinion upon the experience 
of certain of his followers who had professed to have 
reached a higher plane in their experience. This 
led him to revise his theology. And he aftenvard 
taught two paths to Heaven, a high and a low one. 
(See his sermon on "The More Excellent Way.") 
The low one was called justification, the higher one 
sanctification. Now there is no doubt that the Scrip- 
tures teach the experience commonly called the 
higher life, sanctification, holiness, etc., to be a 
Christian experience, but there is no warrant in them 
for the lower one. The man who is not holy in heart 
and life is no Christian at all. No man can be justified 
in living in sin, or with sin in him. He might have 
been, before the fountain of cleansing was open, be- 
fore the Holy Spirit was given as our Sanctifier, but 
not since then. It was about the time I have spoken 
of above, that Mr. Wesley wrote "We saw that men 
were justified before they were sanctified." I do not 
know where he saw it, unless in the supposed ex- 
perience of his disciples, for most assuredly he did not 
see it in the Scriptures. It seems to have been a new 
discovery, but it was a mistake. Mr Wesley, though a 
great and good man, was not infallible in his teachings, 



90 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

and unless they accord with the only and sufficient 
rule of faith and practice, we must reject them. We 
see, then, from the nature of justification, and from the 
teachings of the Scriptures, that in order to be justi- 
fied a Christian must measure up to the requirements 
of the law of Christ. He must, first, be free from the 
guilt of actual transgression ; and, second, have the 
righteousness of the law fulfilled in him, that is, he 
must love the Lord with all his heart, might, mind 
and strength, and his neighbor as himself. This law 
of love is the law of Christ. It is substituted for the 
law of perfect obedience which requires perfection in 
the act as well as in the motive. To the Christian, 
love is the fulfilling of the law. If all his conduct 
flows from love to God and man, the law of Christ is sat- 
isfied, though there may be a thousand failures in 
the outward conduct, a thousand mistakes and ig- 
norances. Christ is the end of that other law, which 
makes no allowance for ignorance and infirmity, yet 
His people are "Not without law to God," but are 
"Under the law of Christ." This is the law under 
which the Christian lives and the standard by which 
he is judged. If he were judged by the law which 
requires perfection in his conduct, he could never be 
justified, as says the Psalmist, "If thou, Lord, 
shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand ? " 
But we have an High Priest who knoweth how to have 
"compassion on the ignorant, even those that are out 
of the way," that is, through ignorance. Christ's law 
has respect to the motive and not the act, so that if 



JUSTIFICATION. 9 1 

the motive is wrong there is guilt even without any 
act. " He that hateth his brother is a murderer." 
"Truth in the inward parts" is what God requires. 
This law of love under which the Christian lives, and 
by which he is judged, is said to be "written in his 
heart." Christ's law is written in us, and if not written 
there we cannot keep it. This law of love written in the 
heart and corresponding to the teachings of Scripture, 
is the standard of righteousness to the Christian, 
by which he is justified or condemned. Unless he 
measures up to the requirements of this law, he can- 
not be justified. Unless he loves God with all his 
heart, by this standard he is condemned ; and if he 
does thus love God, he will keep His commandments. 
"For this is the love of God that we keep his com- 
mandments and his commandments are not grievous." 
Unless he love his neighbor as himself, by this law 
he is condemned ; and if he does thus love his 
neighbor, he will do him no intentional harm. But 
asks someone, " Can not a man be a Christian in some 
sense without this love above mentioned?" Let the 
Scriptures answer. (I. Cor. xiii.) ''Though I speak 
with the tongues of men and angels and have not 
love, I am become as sounding brass and tinkling 
cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy 
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and 
though I have all faith so that I can remove moun- 
tains, and have not love, I am nothing." If it be true 
that without love I am nothing, then I cannot be 
in any sense a Christian without it. I have no 



92 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

standing in the Christian scheme, unless I have this 
love. This love is said by Paul to be shed abroad in 
our hearts by the Holy Spirit given us. We can never 
have it until it is shed abroad in our hearts, and we 
cannot have it thus shed abroad, without the gift of 
the Holy Ghost. It follows, then, incontrovertibly, 
that we cannot be justified without the purification of 
our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Unless 
Christ sends upon us the "promise of the Father " as 
he did upon His Disciples at Pentecost. Tried by the 
standard of the law of love, the law of Christ, God's 
people are clear; they are guiltless. Measuring them 
by this standard, they are "Blameless and harmless, 
the sons of God without rebuke." Though they may 
be ignorant of many things, their judgments may be 
very imperfect, their memories infirm, though they 
may easily be convicted of a thousand follies and ten 
thousand errors and faults in their conduct, yet 
judged by the standard of Christ's love they are 
found to be without fault. No one can condemn 
them. They may be accused as their Master was, 
but the accusations are groundless. They cannot be 
proven; the false charges cannot be substantiated. 
The devil, the accuser of the brethren, may traduce 
them as he did Job, and all his children may be ready 
to give currency to his slandrous charges ; but upon 
examination these falsehoods will be exposed, and 
the malice that prompted them will be made clear. 
God's judgment will stand and they will be vindicated 
before the universe. 



JUSTIFICATION. 93 

Being thus justified by faith, "We have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The con- 
troversy that sin brought is forever ended. Justice is 
satisfied and drops the lifted thunder. The sinner is 
subdued and throws down the weapons of rebellion. 
An everlasting peace is established, and thence on- 
ward forever, man is pleased with God, and God is 
pleased with man. 



PERFECTION 



" Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in 
Heaven is perfect."' — Mat. v: 48. 

" I 'HERE is much prejudice against the doctrine of 
* Perfection as taught in the New Testament, and 
the experience of it as enjoined by the Lord Jesus 
Himself. Yet it cannot be denied that the doctrine 
is taught and the experience enjoined. Some of the 
prejudice arises from a misapprehension of the sub- 
ject, but more perhaps arises from the natural re- 
pugnance of the human heart to holiness. If the 
world, the religious world, saw nothing desirable or 
pleasing in the character of the Son of God, it 
could not be expected that they would be at- 
tracted toward any doctrine or experience that 
tended to make men like Him. Consequently it 
is not surprising that those who preach and those 
who experience Christian perfection, in all ages 
have encountered the scorn and derision of a 
sinful world and a false church. Satan, the enemy of 
all righteousness, has endeavored to scandalize the 
doctrine by every means ; and most successfully by 
setting up pretenders to the experience, who have 
outraged morality and decency in the excesses which 
they have committed in the name of Christ. This 
has been seized upon by the enemies of Christ as an 
(94) 



PERFECTION. 95 

excuse for blackening the reputation of those who 
most thoroughly repudiate all such teachings and 
practices. By these and kindred means the devil 
has succeeded in attaching such reproach to the pro- 
fession of purity in heart and life, that only those 
who are ready to sacrifice their reputations will dare 
openly to confess Christian perfection, and to ex- 
hibit a life in consonance with such a profession. 
This is not an unmixed evil, for its tendency is to 
frighten away false pretenders to Christianity, and to 
promote deadness to the world among those who 
are genuine Christians. John Wesley says of him- 
self and his brother Charles, that God could use them 
to no purpose until their names became a proverb of 
reproach. Reproach for the name of Christ, is not a 
matter to be deprecated, but rather a subject for 
thanksgiving. Peter says, " If ye be reproached for 
the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the Spirit of 
glory and of God resteth upon you." To be 
reproached for the name of Christ is to be placed 
in good society, as the prophets found to their cost 
what fidelity to God meant, and the Apostles were 
counted as the filth and offscouring of all things for 
the same cause. 

In order to make clear what is taught in the Scrip- 
tures concerning the nature of perfection, we shall 
endeavor to distinguish what it is not from what it is. 
Two kinds of perfection are spoken of in the New 
Testament which may be distinguished by the terms 
"perfection of the moral nature" and " perfection of 



96 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

the will." The first is the perfection almost always 
referred to by those who teach upon the subject and is 
the kind of perfection enjoined in the text. This is 
properly called Christian perfection, because it dis- 
tinguishes the character of the Christian from that of 
all other men. It distinctively belongs to him. It 
may be remarked in passing, that Christian perfec- 
tion differs from the perfection of the Old Testament 
believers. For though some of them are expressly 
declared to be perfect, Job for instance, we are told 
in the nth of Hebrews that these faithful souls of 
former dispensations " Having obtained a good report 
through faith received not the promise ; God having 
provided some better thing for us, that they without 
us should not be made perfect." From which it ap- 
pears that the perfection which the Christian enjoys 
is one which they were destitute of. 

I . WHAT It Is Not. — Christian perfection is not, 
firstly, human perfection, that is perfection of the whole 
man. It is not a restoration of the whole man, body, 
soul and spirit, to primeval perfection. The body is 
not yet redeemed. It is still under the dominion of 
Satan who has the power of death. The Lord will 
" destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the 
devil," after while ; and ransom the bodies of His 
saints from under his dominion. Consequently, 
Satan will foreclose his mortgage on our bodies, 
sooner or later, and bring them in dishonor to the 
grave, unless Jesus comes in the meantime. But our 
Redeemer says : " I will ransom them from the power 



PERFECTION. 97 

of the grave." Then, and not till then, will our bodies 
be made like unto His most glorious body. As a 
consequence of this fact that our bodies are not yet 
ransomed, Christian perfection is not, secondly, freedom 
from disease and death. There are those who teach 
that it is a shame for a Christian to be sick, and that 
sickness can only result from sin committed. There 
are few who have so far departed from reason as to 
teach that a Christian cannot die. Reasoning would 
be lost on such, and we leave them to the logic of 
events. But is not their claim a logical sequence 
from the teaching that Christians need not be sick? 
For death is usually produced by disease, and surely 
will be unless accident intervene. It may be the 
disease of senility alone, but old age is decay, and 
decay is death in the end. So to be free from disease 
we must be free from decay ; and if we are free from 
decay, we may live forever, barring accident. But it 
is objected that the devil is the author of disease, and 
certainly Christians are not under the dominion of 
the devil. They are, as to their bodies, or they would 
never die ; for the devil has the power of death as 
well as of disease and accident. Accident is the result 
of man's imperfect state, which makes it impossible 
for him perfectly to adjust the means to the desired 
end. No doubt sickness might often be avoided by 
careful observance of natural law, but it cannot al- 
ways be. It is a disgrace to be sick if sickness has 
manifestly been brought on by excesses of any kind, 
for the Christian is exhorted to temperance and 

S. F. S .— 7 



98 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

moderation. But the germs of disease are in our 
bodies, as well as in the earth, air and water about us. 
We inherit the tendencies to it,- and its occasions can- 
not be avoided. Sickness and weakness, infirmity 
and death, are no honor to us, but they are the re- 
sults of the first sin from which we, as yet, are not 
redeemed, and so are not exempt. 

Christian perfection is not , thirdly, perfection in 
conduct. 

Perfection of conduct is impossible because of 
physical and mental infirmity. So long as the body 
is not redeemed, but remains under the curse, and 
subject to natural evil, the faculties of the body are 
so impaired that perfect mental and physical action 
cannot be expected of any man. It is not proper, 
perhaps, to say that there is any impairment of the 
immaterial substance, the mind or spirit. But the 
mind acts through the brain and nervous system, as 
an instrument. The instrument being weak and im- 
perfect, perfect mental action cannot be looked for. 
As man's conduct depends not only on his motives, 
but also on mental states and actions, such as judg- 
ment, memory, etc., however perfect the motive may 
be, the action will be imperfect because of the faulty 
workings of the mind. I may make a promise with 
the best of intentions, but may fail to keep it through 
forgetfulness. Thus, my conduct is exceptionable. 
In my attempt to do my neighbor good my motive 
may be pure, but owing to fault of judgment I may 
succeed only in doing him harm. Here, again, my 



PERFECTION. 99 

conduct is faulty. It follows, then, that so long as 
man is subject to infirmity and ignorance, his conduct 
can never be wholly unexceptionable, however pure 
his intentions may be. This lameness, though a 
source of sorrow to the Christian, does not prevent 
his pleasing God who regards the intention rather 
than the act. Though lame he takes the prey; and 
he can sing with Charles Wesley : 

" Lame as I am I take the prey, 

Sin, earth and hell with ease o'ercome; 
I shout for joy, pursue my way, 

And like a bounding hart fly home." 

Christian perfection is not, fourthly, freedom from 
temptation. The most persevering and determined 
assaults of the adversary are made against the man 
who has wholly renounced the devil and all his 
works, and identified himself with the cause of Christ. 
Satan tempts all men, mostly by seductions to evil, 
but he most cruelly assails the man who has turned 
his back upon him, and who has dared to challenge 
him in Jesus' name. The stronger he becomes, the 
more fierce the assaults. Temptation resisted be- 
comes a means of growth to him. It is a part of 
God's plan, and is to be neither sought nor avoided. 
No doubt Satan will follow the child of God to the 
very last moment if permitted to do so. But the 
Christian has the promise that the temptation shall 
never exceed his strength, and that a way of escape 
will always be provided. 



IOO SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

ii. What It Is. — First. Christian perfection is 
renewal in righteousness into the moral image of God. 
As has been shown in the sermon on Regeneration, 
man's nature is averse to God and holiness. Its bent 
is toward evil instead of good. Perfection is such a 
change in the moral nature that all its inclination is 
toward God. The bent to sinning is removed. It is 
perfection of heart, so that all that flows from that 
heart is good and acceptable to God. It is the good 
tree producing nothing but good fruit. 

Second. It is loving God with all the heart and 
soul. The law of God, which is the perfect law of 
love, is written in the heart of the saved man ; and 
all feelings, purposes and conduct flow from that 
principle of love. His perfection is the perfec- 
tion of love. The perfection under the law was the 
perfection of fear. Solomon says: "Fear God and 
keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty 
of man." (Eccl. xii : 13.) It is said of Job that he 
was "perfect and upright and (even) one that feared 
God and eschewed evil." Here then we see that his 
perfection consisted in fearing God and eschewing 
evil. But Christian perfection consists in loving God 
and a consequent keeping of His commandments ; and 
to him " His commandments are not grievous." It is 
not necessary to say more on this head, as what is 
said of the New Birth applies to this subject as well, 
as the Christian's perfecton is received in his birth. 

in. Christian Perfection the Common Sal- 
vation.— -It is a popular error that perfection, if it is 



PERFECTION. 1 01 

found at all upon the earth, is peculiar to a few emi- 
nently pious people. That the great mass of God's 
people are without it, and it is something after which 
they should be constantly striving, and toward which 
they should continually aspire. This is a mistake 
arising from ignorance of the teaching of the Scrip- 
ture. It makes no difference how many good and 
wise men may have taught this fallacy, we are to go 
by the Word of God as our rule of faith. "To the 
law and the testimony." The reason given by our 
Lord why His people should be perfect, is that their 
Father in Heaven is perfect. They are to love their 
enemies, bless them that curse them, and do good to 
those that despitefully use them and persecute them, 
that they may be the children of their Father in 
Heaven. The love that extends even to enemies is 
the perfection Christ means ; as He gives the same 
reason for both, their relation to God as His children. 
The idea most evidently is, that if they are God's 
children they will be like Him. God is love ; so will 
they be. God is perfect ; so will they be. If they 
have not this love, this perfection, they give evidence 
against any claim of being God's children. The 
duty of loving an enemy was never required of any 
one under any former dispensation. It was said to 
them, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine 
enemy." It was not required of them because it was 
impossible for them to obey the requirement. It is 
not in fallen human nature to love an enemy. That 
is the difference between God's children and others. 



102 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

If men are the children of God, they will have His 
moral nature, which is love, and they will be able to 
love their enemies, because God loves His enemies. 
"The love of God is shed abroad in their hearts 
by the Holy Ghost given to them." And this love 
of God is the same in its nature in their hearts as in 
God's heart. Thus Peter says that God's children 
are "made partakers of the divine nature." (II. Peter 
i:4.) The Divine nature is love, and they are made 
partakers of that love. If we possess this love, this 
perfection, because of our relation to God as His 
children, it follows that all His children possess this 
perfection. The idea that God has two classes of 
children, one class, the larger one, composed of im- 
perfect children, and another small class of perfectly 
developed children, is an idea which has no support 
in the Scripture. It is certainly not according to the 
type. It is true that in nature some children are 
born who lack some of the members of a perfect 
human being. A finger or an arm, or several limbs 
may be lacking. Or there may be redundancies, 
and the child may have too many limbs. This is 
considered to be abnormal, a freak of nature, an 
accident. But according to the theory we are speak- 
ing of, all God's children are born that way ; they are 
all imperfect, incomplete, crippled. They needed to 
be born again because of the imperfection of their 
first birth, but the second birth seems to be a small 
improvement upon the first, and it would appear as 
if there would need to be several more births before 



PERFECTION. IO3 

the child would look like its Father. These freaks 
and monstrosities in nature which are such wide 
departures from the type, the normal, are attributed 
to sin. They happen in consequence of natural evil, 
which has marred God's work. If sin had not thus 
impaired God's work, they would never happen. 
God's law of reproduction, that like produces like, 
has been interfered with, and the responsibility for 
the freak cannot be laid at the door of the Creator. 
But the Christian is God's direct work. "We are 
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus." (Eph. 
ii: 10.) Is it possible that God can be the Father of 
imperfect children? Can He be the author of im- 
perfect workmanship? "He is the Rock, his work 
is perfect." (Deut. xxxii:4.) Both Scripture and 
reason repudiate such a conclusion. We will also 
repudiate it, and will not insult God by charging 
Him with imperfection in His work. We under- 
stand the Scriptures to teach a perfection that belongs 
to the Christian, because he is a Christian. That it nec- 
essarily arises out of his relation to God as His child. 
That it is essential to his likeness to his Father. That 
imperfection in his heart or moral nature, disproves 
his claim to sonship. All God's children are perfect 
specimens of the genus Christian ; all are normal and 
according to the type. There is no difference in 
them in respect to this nature. They all have cruci- 
fied, and put off, the old man, and have put on the 
new man who is renewed in knowledge after the 
image of Him that created them. Being in Christ 



104 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

they are new creatures ; old things have passed away 
and, behold ! all things are become new. We shall 
not argue the point that the old man is put off before 
the new man is put on. We have said enough on 
that point in the sermon on Regeneration. The 
Scriptures just quoted are sufficient to establish that 
fact to our satisfaction, unless our opinions have more 
authority with us than the Word of God. There are 
however several Scriptures quoted to establish the 
theory that God has two kinds of children, some 
holy and some unholy. We shall not rest satisfied 
with quoting other passages which clearly teach the 
contrary, setting up one Scripture against another, as 
though there was conflict of authority in their teach- 
ings. We are fully convinced that the Scriptures are 
all inspired by the same Holy Spirit, and that there 
is unity in their teachings. They do not contradict 
themselves really, though they may seem to do so 
sometimes at first sight, and are often interpreted so 
that they fail to harmonize. This is a wresting of the 
Scriptures, which St. Peter says is done to the de- 
struction of those who are guilty of the evil practice. 
It is certainly showing great disrespect to the Holy 
Spirit to make Him contradict Himself in His testi- 
mony. We shall endeavor to show that He is con- 
sistent with Himself and with sound reason, in all 
His words. It is a small matter whether my pre- 
conceived notions and opinions stand or fall, but it is 
all-important to know what God says. Let us come to 
the study of the Scriptures then with a sincere desire 



PERFECTION. IO5 

to know what they teach, that we may believe and 
obey, and not with a desire to bolster up our own 
theories. The first passage we will consider is I. Cor. 
iii : 1 — 4. "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you 
as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto 
babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not 
with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, 
neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal : 
for whereas there is among you envying and strife, 
and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 
For while one saith, I am of Paul ; and another, I am 
of Apollos; are ye not carnal?" The conclusion 
drawn from the above passage by those who hold to 
the opinion that there are two classes of believers, is 
that the babes declared to be yet carnal and not 
Spiritual, are the lower class of Christians, while 
those who are Spiritual constitute the higher class. 
They claim that these persons so described are God's 
children, because they are called " babes in Christ." 
The first objection to this interpretation of the pas- 
sage is, that it contradicts Christ. No one can be a 
child of God unless he were born of God, and Jesus 
says " That which is born of the Spirit is spirit," that 
is, Spiritual. To show that I am not giving a new 
interpretation to the word " Spirit," in making it mean 
Spiritual, I quote from Dr. Adam Clark's commentary 
on this verse. " This is the answer to the objection of 
Nicodemusin verse four. Can a man enter the second 
time into his mother's womb and be born? Our Lord 
here intimates that were even this possible, it would 



106 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

not answer the end. For the plant will ever be of the 
nature of the seed that produces it; like will be- 
get like. The kingdom of God is Spiritual and 
holy : and that which is born of the Spirit resem- 
bles the Spirit. For as he is who begat, so is 
he who is begotten of him." Jesus says expressly 
that those who are born of God are Spiritual. 
But these babes are just as expressly declared 
to be carnal. Therefore if Jesus' word stands, they 
cannot be children of God. The second objec- 
tion is, that it makes St. Paul contradict himself. 
In Rom. viii : 6, he tells us that "To be carnally 
minded is death ; but to be spiritually minded is life 
and peace." But these interpreters would have him 
say in Corinthians that these carnally minded persons 
are the living children of God. Both statements can- 
not be true. If they are dead, they are not the chil- 
dren of God. The third objection is that it makes St. 
Paul contradict St. James. Paul charges these 
Corinthians with envy, strife and divisions. James 
says in the third chapter of his epistle, 14th verse, to 
the end, "But if ye have bitter envying and strife 
in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the 
truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but 
is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and 
strife are, there is confusion and every evil work. But 
the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then 
peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of 
mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without 
hypocrisy." St. James seems to have a poor opinion 



PERFECTION. IO7 

of the religion of those who indulge envy and strife. 
He says it does not come from above. God's children 
are born from above. He says it is earthly, sensual 
and devilish, originating partly in fallen human 
nature, and partly in hell. He says that where envy 
and strife are, there is confusion, and every evil work. 
Can the Heavenly Jerusalem be built of such 
material? Confusion is Babylon, not the Church of 
Christ. He tells us further that the wisdom from 
above is first pure, then peaceable and gentle. Not 
first carnal and full of envy and strife. It is plain to 
the most casual observer that the conception of 
Christianity which James has, and the one that these 
theorists have, are as wide apart as the antipodes. 
But is it necessary to so interpret the Scripture under 
consideration? Is there not some way of explaining 
it that it will not produce so many antagonisms ? 
It cannot certainly mean what these interpreters say 
it does. Let us examine the passage in the light 
which similar passages may throw upon it. In Heb. 
v: 12-14 we have something similar. Here are 
persons described as babes, and they are urged to go 
on unto perfection in the following chapter. These 
babes also had to be fed with milk and not with 
strong meat. But we are told some things about 
them which are not said of the other babes, though 
no doubt true of both. In Corinthians they are said 
to be carnal, but that is not said here. In both places 
they are said to be incapable of understanding Spirit- 
ual truth. In fact it is because of that circumstance 



108 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

they are called babes. But here we are told they 
needed to have the first principles of the Gospel 
taught them again. We are also informed that they 
lacked Spiritual discernment to enable them to dis- 
tinguish good and evil. These marks ought to 
enable us to fix their Spiritual status. The latter 
characteristic is spoken of in I. Cor. 11:14-15. 
" But the natural man receiveth not the things of the 
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; 
neither can he know them because they are Spirit- 
ually discerned. But he that is Spiritual judgeth all 
things, yet he himself is judged by no man." Here 
we find that this want of discernment is characteristic 
of natural men. The Greek word here translated, 
"natural," is " psuxikos." The word in the next 
chapter translated, "carnal," is " sarkikos." It is 
held by those who understand these babes to be 
children of God, that they are carnal because they 
yet retain the old nature, though possessing the new 
nature also. But we find that they possess the 
characteristics of natural men, to whom the things of 
God are foolishness. This certainly cannot be true 
of any child of God. They not only are natural men 
but are declared to "walk as men." This they do 
because "they that are after the flesh do mind the 
things of the flesh." It has been generally supposed 
that in the various places where the natural and 
carnal is compared with the Spiritual that the con- 
trast was between saved and unsaved men ; between 
the children of God and the children of the devil. 



PERFECTION. IO9 

But according to the theory under consideration, the 
comparison is between different classes of God's 
children. It seems to me that a theory that leads to 
such absurdities is too foolish for serious considera- 
tion. But not only does it appear that these " babes " 
are natural men, but they are such as need to be 
taught again which be the first principles of the 
oracles of God. 

What are the first principles of the Gospel? We 
are informed in the next chapter. "Not laying 
again the foundation of repentance from dead works 
and of faith toward God." Repentance and faith are 
the foundation principles of Christian experience. 
But it is the sinner who is commanded to repent, 
not the Christian, no, not even the " justified." For 
"There is more joy in the presence of the angels of 
God over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety 
and nine just persons that need no repentance." We 
find that these " babes " needed to be taught again 
repentance and faith. But the just need no repent- 
ance. Therefore, these persons called babes were 
not just, or justified. They were unsaved sinners, for 
they needed to repent. They had once been taught 
these first principles, but they needed to be taught 
them again. They had failed to improve the advan- 
tages they had enjoyed, and had lost the light and 
power of the truth out of their hearts, and needed a 
second call lest they should wholly relapse into un- 
belief and indifference. While the Apostle speaks 
hopefully of them, he warns them of their danger by 



110 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

the parable of the field bringing forth thorns and 
briers after having been once dressed and cleared. 
We find the same to be true of these carnal babes at 
Corinth. The Apostle wrote them a very sharp let- 
ter, which, he says in his second epistle, made them 
sorry. But he rejoices that it was sorrow to repent- 
ance ; that they sorrowed after a Godly sort. For, 
says he, " Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto 
salvation not to be repented of." These "babes" at 
Corinth needed repentance also. Therefore they 
were sinners, as none but sinners need repentance. 
Their Godly sorrow wrought repentance to salvation. 
They also went on to perfection. As to the term 
"babe" (nepios) the Apostle Paul uses it in a pe- 
culiar sense. With him it is a term of reproach. Not 
so with Peter. He says, "As new-born babes desire 
the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow 
thereby." He here refers to the appetite which a 
new-born babe manifests for the nourishment which 
nature has provided. He commends this desire for 
milk. But Paul deprecates the appetite for milk. 
To him, instead of being a sign of vigorous life, it 
is a sure sign of weakness. The fact is they are 
using the same object, a babe, to illustrate entirely 
different things. Peter uses the appetite of the babe 
to show the desire of God's children for the truth. 
In this respect they are always babes. They never 
outgrow this love for, and longing for, the sincere 
milk of the word. Paul uses the babe to illustrate 
weakness of understanding. The digestive powers of 



PERFECTION. 1 1 1 

the babe, which are not able to grapple with any but 
the most simple and most easily assimilated sub- 
stances, represent to his mind the weakness of under- 
standing of the unregenerate in Spiritual matters. 
Instead of receiving the strongest viands and digest- 
ing them with ease, they must be fed with a spoon, 
with great care, lest their digestive powers be over- 
charged. What Peter calls "sincere milk," Paul calls 
"strong meat." One has in mind the nourishing 
qualities of the food, the other, the digestive powers 
of the recipient. When Paul speaks of babes, babes 
in Christ, he refers entirely to the state of their un- 
derstanding. Peter does not speak of those he ad- 
dresses as being new-born babes. He exhorts them 
to have the appetite of new-born babes. Some of 
them may have been long in the service of Christ. 
Still they needed the appetite for the truth. The 
same object, a babe, for instance, may be used to 
illustrate many different things. It may represent 
ignorance, helplessness, sonship, an " organized appe- 
tite." We are not to suppose the same thing is al- 
ways meant when the same object is used as a figure. 
Christ holds the child up before us as an example. 
He says, " Be like it." Paul says, " Be not children 
in understanding." There may be in the same ob- 
ject some things to commend, and some things to 
deplore. Jesus and Peter refer to that in the child 
which they commend as symbols for our imitation. 
We see from all that has been said, then, that these 
babes, so far from being children of God, justified, are 



112 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

natural men, persons needing to repent in order that 
they may be saved ; that they are babes in Christ 
only in reference to their ignorance of Spiritual things, 
and the weakness of their understanding in the things 
of God. In other words, they are babes in Christ 
with respect to the state of their understanding, and 
not in respect to their relation to God as their father. 
In I. John iv : 1 8 we read " There is no fear in love, 
but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath 
torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in 
love." From this it is argued that there is a perfect 
love, and one that is imperfect. There is no men- 
tion made of an imperfect love, but it is supposed to 
be implied. The statement is made that there is no 
fear in love. Not, no fear in perfect love, but no fear 
in love. It is impossible that anyone should love an 
object or person and be afraid of the person or thing 
at the same time. We will hate that which produces 
in us tormenting fear. It will necessarily become an 
object of aversion to us. The Apostle Paul declares 
that "God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of 
power and of love and of a sound mind." (II. Tim. 
i:7.) And, again (Rom. viii : T 5 ) , "We have not re- 
ceived the spirit of bondage again to fear." Tor- 
menting fear will produce bondage wherever it 
exists. Slavish fear and love are incompatible, 
and the man who has the fear is destitute of the 
love. The inference that there is an imperfect love, 
because perfect love is mentioned, is unwarranted 
therefore. 



PERFECTION. 113 

Again, the measure of our love is often determined 
by the object of it; and our love is more or less ar- 
dent as the object is more or less worthy and perfect 
in its character and attributes. Is it possible that 
any man can know the God of infinite beauty and 
perfection in all His character, and not love Him with 
all the heart? Not to love Him thus argues ignor- 
ance of Him. But what is the origin of the love of 
God in the Christian? Where does it come from? 
"The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by 
the Holy Ghost given unto us." This love comes 
from God and is shed abroad in our hearts. It is not 
a human product. Does the Holy Spirit give us an 
imperfect love? If so, who is responsible for the im- 
perfection of our love? God cannot be the author 
of an imperfect love. But what is the nature of this 
love? It is "The love of God." The same love that 
glows in the heart of Deity is put into our hearts. It 
is a part of the Divine nature imparted to us. To 
say the Christian's love is imperfect, is to impugn 
the nature of God's love. But we will show from 
this same epistle that there is no love but perfect 
love. (I.John ii 14.-5.) " He that saith I know him 
and keepeth not his commandments is a liar, and the 
truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word in 
him, verily is the love of God perfected." The man 
who does not keep His commandments is a liar if he 
claims to know God. The man that keepeth His 
commandments has perfect love. All professors are in 
one or the other of these classes. Either the truth is 

S. F. S.— 8 



114 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

not in him or he has perfect love. Here we rest the 
case. The Apostle seems to have had in mind the 
perfections of the two dispensations ; the one a per- 
fection through fear, the other a perfection through 
love. We are driven to the conclusion then that all 
Christian love casts out fear, and that all Christian 
love is perfect in its nature. 

In I. Thess. v:23 you will find by reference this 
passage: "And the very God of peace sanctifiy 
you wholly." It is inferred from this petition that 
these saints, for whom the Apostle prays, were par- 
tially sanctified already, and needed to be fully sanc- 
tified. In some sense this is probably true; for we 
have no proof that these persons were unconverted. 
Of course we might infer because they needed to be 
wholly sanctified, that their souls were only partially 
sanctified, but as there is no collateral proof to 
strengthen such an inference, we will not draw the in- 
ference. The language might apply to the congre- 
gation as a whole, and we might infer that some 
received among them, as at Corinth, were not yet 
sanctified, and the Apostle has reference to their 
sanctification as being necessary to a complete 
work in the Church as a whole. But what follows 
seems to affix to the passage a different meaning 
from either of the preceding. "And I pray God 
that your whole spirit and soul and body be pre- 
served blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ." The sanctification of which we have been 
speaking, is the purification of the heart or moral na- 



PERFECTION. 1 1 5 

ture alone. The Apostle here prays for the sanctifi- 
cation of the whole man, body and soul as well as 
spirit. Now we know that sanctify means to set 
apart to holy use, to consecrate, as well as to purify. 
Now, while the soul, or animal life, and the body can- 
not be said to be purified in the sense in which the spirit 
is purified ; yet they can be consecrated wholly to the 
service of God. Our bodies may be made "instruments 
of righteousness unto holiness." The Apostle does 
not pray for the entire sanctification of their moral 
natures, but for the sanctification of the entire man, 
soul and body as well as spirit, so that the whole 
man may be blameless, and preserved so, to the 
coming of Christ. The same thought is expressed 
in Rom. xii:i, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, 
by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies 
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is 
your reasonable service." The bodies offered under 
the law were dead sacrifices, but we are to offer our 
bodies a living sacrifice. They are a sacrifice in the 
sense that they are devoted to God's service. The 
same thought is found also in II. Cor. vii:i, "Let 
us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 
spirit, perfecting holiness in the sight of God." The 
cleansing here is enjoined upon the believer ; he is 
to cleanse himself. There is to be an outward as well 
as an inward cleansing. The Lord makes the one, we 
must make the other. Holiness of heart is perfected 
by carrying it out in the life. In this passage in 
Thessalonians, then, we find no support for the theory 



Il6 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

of partial sanctification of the moral nature. Nor do 
I find any passage of Scripture that, when properly 
understood, lends any support to the theory. We 
conclude, then, that the perfection commanded by 
Christ is the birthright of every child of God, and 
that anything short of this disproves the claim to 
sonship. In Heb. ii : 1 1 we read, "For both he 
that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all 
of one ; for which cause he is not ashamed to call 
them brethren." Because Christians as to their 
moral nature, have the same Father as the Lord 
Jesus has, and consequently the family features, 
Christ is not ashamed to call them brethren. But if 
they were carnal and unholy, having the image of the 
devil rather than of His Father, He would, no doubt, 
be ashamed to acknowledge them as belonging to 
the family. 

We recapitulate in conclusion. The perfection 
enjoined by our Lord is not : first, Human perfection ; 
nor, second, Perfection of conduct ; nor, third, Freedom 
from temptation ; nor, fourth, Deliverance from natural 
evil, as sickness, accident and death. 

But is, first, An entire renewal of the moral nature 
into the image of God. Second, Loving God with all 
the heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor 
as ourself. It is, third, The common experience of 
God's children so that he who is not perfect has no 
claim to sonship. Such is Christian perfection, ac- 
cording to the teachings of Scripture. 



BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST'S ADVENT 



"And these all, having obtained a good report through 
faith received not the promise." — Heb. xi : 39. 

H? UT little information is vouchsafed us by theolog- 
*-^ ical writers upon the interesting subject of the 
condition of believers before Christ's Advent. It used 
to be a matter of wonder and conjecture to me when, 
as a boy, I mused upon these subjects. Were these 
men converted? If so, when? Were they made 
holy in heart? When did this change take place? 
Was it while they lived or when they died ? These 
were questions that forced themselves upon my atten- 
tion even in youth. And after I reached manhood, 
and became a religious teacher, the enigma was as 
far from solution as ever. About the only informa- 
tion I ever received on the subject, was that they 
believed in a Savior to come, and we believed in a 
Savior that had come ; that they looked forward to 
the Savior, and we looked backward to see Him. 
This was spoken of as the principal difference be- 
tween believers before the Advent and since then. 
The difference seemed to be rather in their favor, as 
it is more easy to look forward than backward. Of 
course, those who lived at the time of Christ's Advent, 
on this theory, had an advantage over both them 
and us, as they saw the Savior among them, and were 

(117) 



Il8 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

compelled to look neither forward nor backward. 
But that view of the case does not harmonize with 
Christ's language when he says : " It is profitable for 
you that I go away;" for then they could look at 
Him no more, and their advantage would be gone. 
It was patent to me, even in the ignorance of youth, 
that these Old Testament believers did not measure 
up to the Christian standard of living, and they were 
guilty of things I could not conceive a converted man 
to be guilty of, such as lying, murder, adultery, 
polygamy, hatred of their enemies. It seemed to me 
that they must be changed before they could dwell 
with God. But I could see no information upon the 
subject as to when they were changed. The trouble 
with the explanation given above, that the principal 
difference between believers before Christ and since 
is the standpoint from which they viewed Christ, is 
that it does not harmonize with the teachings of the 
Scriptures. They teach that the New Testament 
believer has great superiority over those of former 
dispensations. That the glory of the former dispen- 
sation is entirely eclipsed by the glory of Christianity. 
That the mystery which is now made manifest to the 
saints was hidden from ages and from generations. 
Jesus tells His Disciples that many prophets and 
righteous men desired to see the things which they 
saw, and did not see them, and this, too, before He 
went away to send them greater things. He further 
says that John the Baptist was not surpassed by any 
that preceded him, but that the least in the kingdom 



BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST'S ADVENT. 119 

of Heaven is greater than John. These and kindred 
statements give us to understand that the position of 
believers under the present dispensation is far higher 
and grander than that of former believers. The 
prophet promises that under the new covenant there 
is to be a great change made in the privileges of 
God's people. He is to write His law in their hearts, 
as one difference. Then they do not need to be taught 
the knowledge of God by one another, because all 
of them, even the least, shall know the Lord for him- 
self. All these things show a greater difference 
between the state of believers formerly and now, than 
merely a difference with respect to time. If the least 
believer now is superior to the greatest prophet then, 
there has been a wonderful improvement in their 
spiritual condition. The experience of God's peo- 
ple under the Gospel is far higher, and the life 
required of them is far better than under preceding 
ages. A new relation with God and a new relation 
toward each other, is established among God's peo- 
ple through the Gospel. They are made sons of 
God, and brethren in Christ. The old law permit- 
ting easy divorce and polygamy was a concession on 
account of the hardness of their hearts. Jesus says : 
"Because of the hardness of your heart, Moses gave 
you this commandment." 

But under the Gospel, provision is made to take 
the stony heart out of our flesh, and to give us 
hearts of flesh. Christians have circumcision of the 
heart; they are " circumcised with the circumcision 



120 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

made without hands, in putting off the body of the 
sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." 
Those under the law were uncircumcised in their 
hearts, as we read in Jer. ix:26: "For all these na- 
tions are uncircumcised ; and all the house of Israel 
are uncircumcised in heart." Their hearts were not 
right with Him ; they did always err in their heart. 
But under the Gospel His people receive a new heart 
and a right Spirit. In short, believers before Christ's 
death and resurrection, were servants not sons. They 
were not born again ; they were destitute of the per- 
fection which characterizes God's children ; His 
people under the Gospel. They had the promise of 
salvation but not the enjoyment of it. Do not under- 
stand me to mean the Israelites in general, for they 
were not all Israel who were of Israel. Those who were 
of faith were children of the promise. The mass of the 
Jewish nation never had faith. They were the Lord's 
people only in an outward, figurative sense. But there 
was a remnant who had faith, and these were the ones 
who were the children of the promise. It was to them 
the promise was made. We are told in Heb. xi: 13 
that the persons previously spoken of, particularly 
Abraham and Sarah, "All died in faith, not having 
received the promises;" but in the 39th verse only 
"the promise" is mentioned. Two promises were 
made to Abraham, one to his natural seed, the other 
to his Spiritual seed. He had at his death received 
the fulfillment of neither. But those mentioned in 
the latter part of the chapter, had seen the promise 



BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST'S ADVENT. 121 

made to his natural seed fulfilled. They had pos- 
sessed the land which God promised to Abraham. 
So there remained but the one promise to be fulfilled ; 
the one made to his Spiritual seed. These faithful 
souls were heirs of the promised salvation though not 
possessors of it. In Gal. iv : I we are told something 
of the condition of the heirs before Christ's coming. 
" Now we know that the heir as long as he is a 
child differeth nothing from a servant, though he be 
Lord of all ; but is under tutors and governors until 
the time appointed of the father." The heir is 
treated as a child while he is a minor. The father 
appoints in his will when he shall be old enough to 
inherit. If he does not appoint the time, then the 
law provides that he shall attain his majority at 
twenty-one years of age. But while a minor he has 
possession of none of the property. He has to use 
just what his guardian may dole out to him; When 
he reaches his majority, the authority of the guardian 
ceases and the whole estate belonging to him is 
turned over to him. So says the Apostle, "Even so 
we, when we were children, were in bondage under 
the elements of the world." That is under Judaism. 
We see, then, the condition of those who were heirs 
under the law. They could not be distinguished 
from the servants ; the remainder of the Jews who 
were not heirs at all. They differed nothing from 
the servants. Jesus himself was made under the law, 
and took upon Himself the form of a servant. But 
He did it to " redeem us from under the law, that we 



122 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

might receive the adoption of sons." The Father 
had appointed a time when His people might become 
of age ; when they could no longer be treated as 
minors. So when the fullness of that time was come 
He sent His Son to redeem His people from under 
the law, and to put them in possession of the prom- 
ised inheritance. He adopts them as His children, 
brings them into one family, and establishes the new 
relation of brethren in Christ. Out of this new rela- 
tion grow new duties, and these find expression in 
a new commandment. " A new commandment I 
give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have 
loved you." These Old Testament believers were held 
in bondage as servants under the law until the time 
came for them to attain their majority, that they 
might come into possession of the inheritance 
promised. But what was the inheritance promised, 
and when did they first possess it? 

The Apostle in Heb. xi : 40 intimates that it was 
perfection. " God having provided some better thing 
for us, that they without us should not be made per- 
fect." The expression "the promise" is peculiar. It 
seems to refer to something special. It is not a 
promise, but the promise. In Luke xxiv : 49 we read 
of something similar: "And, behold, I send the 
promise of my Father upon you ; but tarry ye at 
Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on 
high." In Acts 1 : 4-5 it is written : "And being as- 
sembled together with them commanded them that 
they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the 



BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST'S ADVENT. 1 23 

promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard 
of me. For John truly baptised with water, but ye 
shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days 
hence." Here we are plainly told what "the promise 
of the Father" is; namely, the baptism of the Holy 
Ghost. That Old Testament believers were without 
it, is very manifest from many considerations. John 
the Baptist acknowledged himself to be in need of it. 
He said to Jesus, " I have need to be baptised of 
Thee, and comest Thou to me." He realized that 
he was in need of Christ's baptism, which is the 
baptism of the Holy Spirit. This was the promise of 
the Father, which those who died in faith previous to 
Christ's coming did not receive. It was this that was 
necessary to their perfection. They were just men, 
justified by faith, and would have received the adop- 
tion of sons in answer to the same faith, if the time 
had come for them to be declared of age. But as the 
time was not come, they were minor heirs, waiting 
for their majority that they might inherit the promise. 
This was the better thing provided for us, that they 
could not have until the new covenant was made. 
They could not be made perfect. We have already 
explained in a previous sermon, that this perfection 
is the result of the new birth, an experience peculiar 
to this dispensation. The Apostle tells us that be- 
cause we have received the adoption of sons, " God 
hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into our hearts, 
crying, Abba, Father." This witness of the Spirit 
then is also an experience belonging exclusively to 



124 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

this dispensation. The mystery that was hidden from 
ages and from generations was Christ in us the hope 
of glory. This mystery or doctrine they were igno- 
rant of ; it was hid from them. The prophets who 
inquired and searched diligently concerning these 
things, could learn only that it was not for themselves 
but for us these blessings were available. (I. Peter 
i: io, 12.) This work of making sinners children of 
God, that even the angels were desirous of looking 
into it, is such a wonderful work that the prophet 
declared, men would not believe it when it was told 
to them. The Old Testament believers died without 
this experience, but they saw it afar off as for them, 
and by faith they embraced it and confessed that 
they were pilgrims and strangers on the earth. They 
had the promise of these blessings when they should 
become available, and no doubt at the first oppor- 
tunity they pressed into the kingdom. The doors 
were not opened until Pentecost when the kingdom 
was set up. There the heart of the first living man 
was purified by faith, and as they received this per- 
fection no doubt all those of faith, some of whom had 
been waiting for ages the fulfillment of the promise of 
the Father, were brought into the same grace, and 
were made partakers, with the one hundred and 
twenty, of the saving power of God. There is an 
unusual thing mentioned as occurring at that time : 
"And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as 
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the 
house where they were sitting." Might not this 



BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST'S ADVENT. 1 25 

have been the coming of the spirits of just men who 
were waiting to be made perfect? I see nothing 
unreasonable in the supposition. We are told that 
when we come to Mount Zion, the City of the 
living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, that we 
come to the spirits of just men made perfect. This 
evidently refers to disembodied spirits of just men 
which have been made perfect. They are in the 
Church of Jesus Christ to which all Christians come. 
From this we learn that the Church of Christ is com- 
posed, not only of all the faithful since Christ's Ad- 
vent, but it also contains all the faithful who lived 
previously to that. Abraham looked forward to the 
enjoyment of membership in the Church of Jesus 
Christ. Jesus said to the Jews, "Your father Abra- 
ham rejoiced to see my day ; and he saw it and was 
glad." And we are told in the eleventh of Hebrews 
that Abraham "looked for a city which hath founda- 
tions, whose builder and maker is God." What city 
could that have been? It was not Heaven, for 
Heaven is never called a city. God's people are 
said to be " built upon the foundation of the 
apostles, and prophets, Jesus Christ himself be- 
ing the chief corner stone." In Rev. xxi we have 
the description of a glorious city. In the four- 
teenth verse we are told, "And the wall of the 
city had twelve foundations, and in them the names 
of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." Here we find 
a city with foundations, no doubt the one for which 
Abraham looked. This is popularly supposed to be 



126 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

a description of Heaven, but there is no foundation 
for this supposition. The invitation of the angel was, 
" Come and I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's 
wife." The Revelator tells us that he showed him 
"That great city, the holy Jerusalem descending out 
of Heaven from God." The city was not Heaven, for 
it was descending out of Heaven. It was the bride, 
the Lamb's wife. Heaven is never called the bride 
of Christ, but the Church of Christ is His bride, and 
after the resurrection she is His wife. We are told 
that there is to be a marriage supper, when Christ 
and His Church are to be united never more to be 
separated. "And so shall we be forever with the 
Lord." When Abraham was looking for a city hav- 
ing foundations, he was looking for the Church of 
Jesus Christ. And he did not look in vain. He found 
that Church and was admitted to membership in it- 
And Jesus declares that when they come from the 
East and from the West and from the North and 
from the South, and sit down in the Kingdom of 
God, they will find Abraham and Isaac and Jacob 
already in the Kingdom. The expression, " King- 
dom of God," and "Kingdom of Heaven," always re- 
fers to the Christian dispensation or age, and never to 
the succeeding age, or future glory. So when the 
Gentiles come from all directions and sit down with 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God, 
it is in the Church of Christ that they find them. 
We conclude, then : First. That the Old Testament be- 
lievers were heirs of salvation. Second. That they 



BELIEVERS BEFORE CHRIST S ADVENT. 1 27 

were minor heirs, and not yet possessors of the inher- 
itance. Third. That they were as minors under the 
bondage of the law, and differed nothing from 
the servants or slaves (doulos), so far as their treat- 
ment was concerned. Fourth. They were just men 
but not yet made perfect, nor could they be made 
perfect until the new dispensation came. Fifth. God 
declared His people to have attained their majority 
at Pentecost, when He gave them the promise of the 
Father, the gift of the Holy Ghost. As these just 
men could not be made perfect without us, they in- 
herited with the remainder of the family, when the 
fullness of the time came. They then received that 
which was theirs by promise. Sixth. Thus all who 
were of faith in all ages of the world's history are 
brought into the one brotherhood, and are all united 
in the one bond of love, and there is one fold and one 
Shepherd. Since the Holy Spirit was given there 
are no more minor heirs, but all God's children in- 
herit at birth the great salvation, the glorious per- 
fection, that was made available for them through 
the redemption of Christ. By the one Spirit they 
are all baptized into the one body, and are all made 
to drink into the one Spirit. 



THE DESIGN OF THE LAW 



" Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us 
unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." 

— Gal. iii : 24. 

""THERE are few subjects of more practical impor- 
A tance than the one under consideration. And it 
is probable that there are few subjects less clearly 
understood by religious teachers in general. In fact, 
but few of the most learned have had well-defined 
ideas upon this subject. The result has been a mix- 
ing of the law and the Gospel in such a way as to 
neutralize the good effects of both. Paul tells Tim- 
othy that the law is good if it be used lawfully. And 
the first proposition he lays down concerning the law- 
ful use of it is, that it is not made for a righteous man 
but for sinners. This is a fact that must always be 
kept in mind if we expect to hold to a proper use of 
the law. By the law, as the Apostle Paul uses the 
expression generally, is meant the moral law, or such 
an expression of that law as is found in the two tables 
given to Moses on Mount Sinai. It might include 
any moral precepts found in ceremonial law. 

It is often supposed that this law was given to the 
Jews that they might live by keeping it ; that it was a 
means of salvation to them. That, at least, its ten- 
dency was in the direction of salvation and life. In 
(128) 



THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. I 29 

fact, the general conception of its intention is quite 
hazy and indefinite. I have heard preaching con- 
tinuously since my childhood, and I must testify that 
I never heard any man declare plainly the design of 
the law. And yet the Scriptures are very explicit on 
this point. The Apostle, in the chapter in which our 
text is found, asks the question, " Whence then serv- 
eth the law?" and then answers his own question. It 
is true that the translators have so rendered his lan- 
guage as to obscure his meaning. " It was added 
because of transgression 'til the seed should come to 
whom the promise was made." The phrase, " because 
of transgression," is likely to give the reader a wrong 
understanding of the Apostle's meaning. The Greek 
word (charin) here translated "because of," accord- 
ing to the Greek lexicon, means "on account of" or 
"for the sake of." The meaning here is, that it was 
added in order to produce transgression ; as we are 
told by the same Apostle in another place (Rom. v: 
20), "Moreover the law entered that the offense 
might abound." The meaning is the same here; the 
law was added for the sake of offenses, that they 
might abound. It could not mean that the law 
was added because of transgressions already com- 
mitted, for there could be no transgression where 
there was as yet no law. For "where there is no law 
there is no transgression." The intention of the law, 
then, was to produce transgression. It was given for 
that express purpose, to produce transgression ; or, in 
other words, that the offense might abound. God's holy 

S. F. S— 9 



130 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

law was not given to sinners that they might keep it, 
but that they might break it. Certainly God knew 
that they could not obey it ; He did not expect it of 
them, nor did He punish them for not keeping it, ex- 
cept in so far as it was possible for them to keep it ; 
that is, in an outward, formal sense. The Jews were 
punished as a nation principally for apostatizing into 
idolatry, a matter they could avoid. They were pun- 
ished individually for blasphemy, adultery, murder, 
etc., as men are under the civil law nowadays, but 
they broke the law against murder and adultery 
daily without committing the overt act. So long 
as they remained true to their vows, and made 
effort to keep the law, they were not visited with 
punishment. But when they burst His bands 
asunder and repudiated their vows and ran into 
idolatrous excesses, they were visited with punish- 
ment, more particularly to bring them to a sense of 
their sin, and to produce reformation. But the law has 
its most important use under the Gospel dispensation, 
for, through the enlightening influence of the Holy 
Spirit, its depth and breadth are more clearly seen. 
In this light it is seen to respect every thought as well 
as every act. It takes cognizance of the intentions and 
motives rather than of the outward manifestation as 
seen in the actions. The dispensation of the law is 
called the " ministration of condemnation," because 
the whole intent of the law was to condemn men, not 
to save them. Jesus says that he came to save and not 
condemn. (John Hi: 17.) "For God sent not his 



THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 131 

Son into the world to condemn the world, but that 
the world through him might be saved." And, again 
(xii:47), "And if any man hear my words and be- 
lieve not, I judge (krino) him not; for I came not 
to judge the world but to save the world." The same 
word in the original is here translated " judge" that 
was in the preceding quotation translated " condemn." 
Christ tells the Jews in v:45 that they have one that 
accuses them, even Moses, in whom they trust. The 
law was given to men, then, to condemn them, but 
Christ was sent to save them. If we always keep 
this contrast in mind, it will make many things plain 
and clear. The law was given to sinners that they 
might disobey it and so bring condemnation upon 
their consciences ; not that the Lord was pleased to 
condemn them, but condemnation was a necessary 
prelude to their salvation. They could never be 
saved until they were first condemned. "God hath 
declared them all in unbelief, that he might have 
mercy upon all." By means of the law " every mouth 
must be stopped and the whole world become guilty 
before God." The law is God's instrument for con- 
vincing men of sin. Says the Apostle (Rom. vii : 7), 
" Nay, I had not known sin but by the law, for I had 
not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt 
not covet." While the Blessed Spirit is the agent in 
the conviction of sin, the law is the instrument. Bear 
this in mind then, that the law is God's special 
chosen instrument for producing in men the knowledge 
of sin. There is no other means by which we can 



132 • SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

know it. Someone may ask, "If the Lord knew 
that men could not keep the law he gave them, why 
did he not give them a law that they could keep?" 
Because that would not have accomplished the end he 
had in view ; to convince them of sin. They were no 
worse for breaking the law ; the evil was in them before 
the law was given. The law of sin in their members, as 
Paul calls it, was in them, and a law of righteousness 
was given them to develop and bring to light what 
was in them. Outward transgression is only a symp- 
tom of the inward disease. But the disease is insidi- 
ous and men are unconscious of it until the symp- 
toms are manifested. All men have the disease 
alike, and unless there is some standard of health by 
which to measure themselves, they will never become 
aware of their diseased condition. If only a part 
were sick, and the remainder were normally healthy, 
the one class could compare itself with the other. 
But all are alike infected, and are liable to consider 
their diseased, weakened condition to be the normal 
state of Spiritual health, unless they are taught dif- 
ferently. If God had given them a standard of health 
on a level with their condition, or, in other words, a 
law they could keep, they would have only been con- 
firmed in their mistaken estimate of themselves. In- 
stead, he gave them a standard of Spiritual health 
which was on an exact level with their normal state, 
the state in which man was created, in the begin- 
ning. The standard he gave them was just and 
holy and good. He convinces men of this fact, 



THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 1 33 

so that they consent unto the law that it is 
good. They see they ought to measure up to this 
standard ; they ought to obey this holy law. But 
when they attempt to obey it in their diseased con- 
dition, sin that is in them revives in opposition to the 
holy law, and through enforced disobedience it brings 
them into condemnation. As says the Apostle Paul 
in Rom. vii, "For sin, taking occasion by the com- 
mandment, deceived me and by it slew me." What was 
the intention of this? " But sin, that it might appear 
sin, working death in me by that which is good (the 
law) ; that sin by the commandment might become 
exceeding sinful." The whole intent of the law was 
to make sin manifest. The sin that was hidden, the 
sin of the heart. The object of making man an out- 
ward transgressor was to reveal to him the sin of his 
nature. The essence of sin is in the heart, in the 
moral nature, in the intent. Man was unholy and 
consequently lost from God and happiness. This 
unholiness, this sinfulness, must be discovered to 
him, or he would never feel the need of a Savior. 
So long as he thought himself whole he would feel no 
need of a physician. He must be convinced that he 
was sick, and desperately sick, before he would ap- 
ply for a remedy. The disease, though deadly, was 
not realized because the symptoms did not show. 
The law was given to develop the symptoms of the 
disease. Transgressions of the law are these symp- 
toms, and so long as the symptoms continue, it is 
plain that the disease is not eradicated. To remove 



134 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

the symptoms and leave the disease uncured, would 
be to deceive the patient, who would imagine him- 
self well or greatly improved, when his case was as 
desperate as ever. Consequently, God is opposed to 
all efforts to reform the life that do not change the 
heart. If the tree remains corrupt, he would have 
the fruit remain corrupt, that the nature of the tree 
might plainly appear. God is no party to any at- 
tempt that may be made to make men appear better, 
while the fundamental difficulty, the sin of their 
hearts, still remains. He would apply his law to 
them, that law which worketh wrath, until the bot- 
tom of the difficulty is reached. He would use the 
law, as the surgeon his probe, to reach the deepest 
part of the wound that sin has made, that no corrup- 
tion should remain undiscovered and unremoved. 
He pronounces a curse upon those who heal slightly 
or deceitfully, and who are in a hurry to cry peace 
before there is peace. There is no peace to the 
wicked. And who is the wicked man but the man 
who hates God ; whose nature is in rebellion against 
Him ; the essence of whose nature is enmity against 
God, and not subject to His law. To promise such 
an one peace is to deceive Him cruelly. So long as 
the moral nature of the man and the moral nature of 
God are in antagonism, peace is impossible. It is 
the province of the law to expose and condemn so 
long as there is anything to be exposed and to be 
condemned. The law of the Lord is a perfect instru- 
ment to that end, and used by the Holy Spirit, it will 



THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 1 35 

accomplish a perfect work. ''The law of the Lord 
is perfect, converting the soul." (Ps. xix:7.) The 
law is first to do its work, and then the Gospel be- 
gins. In the text the law is said to be our school- 
master. The original word is " Paidagogos " from 
which our word pedagogue is derived. This is often 
used in the sense of schoolteacher, but the literal 
meaning of it is one who guides the child ; and it is 
applied to teachers because in an intellectual sense 
they guide the child. But it is probable that the 
Apostle uses it in its literal sense. Dr. Adam Clarke 
in his comment on this passage tells us that the ped- 
agogue is not the schoolmaster, but the servant who 
led the child to the school and from it, and had the 
care of it out of school hours. No doubt this is the 
sense of the word here, from what is said of the 
pedagogue. He is not here said to teach us any- 
thing, but to bring us to Christ. Christ is the great 
teacher, and He advises us to take His yoke upon us 
and learn of Him. The law is not the teacher, but 
the servant, to bring us to the teacher that we might 
be His disciples or pupils. Children are sometimes 
unwilling to attend school, and must be forced to go. 
This is true of sinners with reference to Christ's 
school. No one attends of his own choice. We 
would be everlasting truants if no force was used. 
Of course the force used is moral force, that 
may be successfully resisted, and we may, and the 
great majority do, refuse to yield to it. It is not a 
pleasant thing for the man who supposes himself 



136 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

whole to be forced to learn that he is sick of a mortal 
disease. It is an unpleasant experience for the man 
who is full of complacency as was the Pharisee in 
Christ's parable, to learn that all his own goodness, 
in which he prides himself, is filthy rags in God's 
sight. But these unpleasant things must be learned 
before we can be saved. By means of the law, God 
exposes our weakness and vileness until no hope is 
left us in our own efforts. The law comes to us as 
God's standard of living. We can find no fault with 
it. Our judgments approve of it. We "consent 
unto the law that it is good." We then make efforts 
to obey it, and in surprise we find ourselves coming 
short. We fail to come up to our conceptions of 
right living. We resolve to try again, hoping for 
better results next time. We make another failure. 
We try again and again with the same results. We 
find at length that the power to will is ours, but the 
power to perform our vows and carry out our good 
resolutions, is wanting. "To will is present with us, 
but how to perform that which is good, we find not." 
We see that it is what we ought to do, but we do the 
very things we would not do, and leave undone the 
things we would do. "The good that I would I do 
not, but the evil which I would not, that do I." Be- 
sides, the light is continually increasing, and the dis- 
crepancy between our conduct and God's law is con- 
tinually increasing, so that instead of gaining ground, 
we seem to be constantly losing. We become dis- 
couraged and are tempted to call the Lord a hard 



THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 1 37 

Master, taking up where He laid not down, and gath- 
ering where He has not strown. Again, we make 
desperate efforts to live, so as to preserve a clear 
conscience, but our failure is signal and overwhelm- 
ing. We delight in the law of God after the inward 
man, but we find another law in our members, war- 
ring against the law of our mind and bringing us into 
captivity to the law of sin in our members." We 
have found what the Lord intended we should find ; 
what He gave us the law to enable us to discover. 
We have found the law, or power, of sin. We 
have found that the difficulty is not with our 
knowledge or understanding: We "consent unto the 
law that it is good." It is not with our choice, 
we "delight in the law of God after the inward 
man." It is not with our wills: "To will is present 
with us." Our purposes are to please God, but the 
result is to disobey Him. But by means of the law 
of God we have developed another law or power, the 
law of sin ; and this law is located within us. It con- 
strains and controls our conduct in spite of resolu- 
tions and efforts. It makes slaves of us ; it holds 
us in a bondage from which we can see no es- 
cape. When we would do good, evil is present with 
us. We are under the control of a power we have 
learned to hate, and from which there is no escape, for 
it is located within us. If this power were ex- 
ternal to us, we might hope for escape from 
it, but it is within us, and we take it with 
us wherever we may go. In our extremity we 



I38 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

cry out: " Oh ! wretched man that I am, who shall 
deliver me ? " We have reached the end of our own 
strength and found it to be perfect weakness. There 
is no help in the law, for it can only condemn us. 
We are now ready to receive the glorious news that 
"when we are without strength, Christ died for the 
ungodly." That, though we cannot save ourselves, 
He is able to save us ; " to save unto the uttermost 
all who come unto God by Him." That He has 
condemned our enslaver to destruction that hence- 
forth we should not serve sin. The law has done its 
work. It has forced us to Christ as the only hope of 
lost men. It has robbed us of all our goodness so 
that not a rag of it is left. It has stopped our 
mouths so that we can but become guilty before 
God. It has given us the "sentence of death in our- 
selves not to trust in ourselves, but in God that 
raiseth the dead." Having been " weighed in the 
balance of the law, and found wanting" in every par- 
ticular, we despair of ourselves. The refuges of lies 
have been swept away and we find ourselves without 
a refuge and without a shelter. The law has pur- 
sued us and driven us from one hope to another 
until all hope is exhausted, and we are brought to 
Christ as the only refuge for lost sinners, the only 
hope for perishing men. The law has been our 
pedagogue and has brought us to Christ that we 
might be justified by faith. We cannot escape from 
the law, nor from its condemnation until we get to 
Christ, So long as there is anything about us to be 



THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 1 39 

condemned, any sin to be exposed, any want of con- 
formity to the will of God to be brought to our 
knowledge, we need the law, since by it is the 
knowledge of sin. We cannot know sin but by the 
law. I have heard persons affirm that they have 
been converted and in the favor of God, free from 
condemnation, and while in this state have been con- 
vinced of sin ; the sin of their hearts. No doubt they 
were sincere in their statements, but they must have 
been mistaken. When the Apostle says, "Nay, I 
had not known sin but by the law," he does not refer 
to outward sin, but to inward sin. This is apparent 
from the example he gives : " For I had not known 
lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." 
Covetousness is acknowledged to be an unholy 
affection, and to belong to the carnal mind. In fact, 
the law was given expressly to convince men of 
original sin ; that was its whole design. It was de- 
signed to produce outward transgression only as a 
symptom of the inward disease. It was no ad- 
vantage to lost men to give them a law they could 
not keep if they did not learn the lesson of the sin of 
their hearts. They were no better off with a law 
than without it, if nothing but infractions of the law 
was to be seen. Since it is undeniable then that the 
whole design of the law was to bring men to a 
knowledge of the carnality of their natures, would it 
not be strange, indeed, that the Lord should first de- 
liver them from the law and then convince them of 
the very thing the law was provided to convince 



140 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

them of ? The supposition is absurd, and is founded 
in ignorance of God's plan of salvation. The ab- 
surdity of the supposition is shown further in that it 
implies that the law condemns sinners for their unholy- 
conduct, but does not condemn them for the unholy 
nature from which that conduct necessarily springs. 
That it condemns men for rebellion in their lives, but 
not for rebellion in their hearts. Which is the more 
to be condemned, the effect or the cause from 
which it springs? It moreover assumes the absurdity 
that this rebellious nature is so subject to God's law 
that it submits to it and does not bear its necessary 
fruit, when the Apostle says it is not subject to God's 
law neither indeed can be. Instead of submitting to 
the law, the Apostle represents the law as stirring it 
up. " When the commandment came, sin revived 
and I died." The Scriptures teach that the law is 
provided to give the sinner no peace until he is fully 
convinced of his lost, sinful condition, of his inability 
to keep God's holy law because of the flesh, the old 
man, the carnal nature in him ; until he cries out in 
his extremity for deliverance from " the body of this 
death !" The absurd claim that we have been con- 
sidering is that God gives the sinner peace, takes 
away all the symptoms of Spiritual disease, outward 
transgressions, delivers him from the claims of the 
law, and then in some mysterious way, never ex- 
plained, convinces him of the sin of his nature. On 
this supposition there was no need of the law at all. 
These persons with no condemnation but full of orig- 



THE DESIGN OF THE LAW. 141 

inal sin are in exactly the same condition as sinners 
were before they had any law to transgress. And if 
God can convince them of their lost condition be- 
cause of their carnality, without the law, then the 
giving of the law was a superfluity ; it was entirely 
unnecessary. The work of conviction could have 
been accomplished just as well without it. But 
the Apostle disposes of this claim by saying, "I 
had not known sin but by the law." If the Apostle 
Paul needed the law to convince him of sin, so 
does every other person. If he could not know 
lust except through the prohibition of the law, 
neither can any other person. If he needed the law 
to show him the covetousness of his carnal mind, so 
does every other person. And those who claim to 
have been convinced of inbred sin without the 
condemnation of the law are simply mistaken. 
When they were thus convinced of sin they were not 
justified, they were not free from condemnation, they 
were not out from under the law as they imagined ; 
but were still under wrath ; for the law worketh wrath. 
How did they know covetousness was sinful but by 
the law? The Holy Spirit used the law as the in- 
strument of their conviction. If covetousness is con- 
trary to the law, then the law condemned them for it. 
But "there is no condemnation to them that are in 
Christ Jesus." Why? Because the law of the Spirit 
of life in Christ Jesus hath made them free from the 
law of sin and death. If they were not free from 
this law of sin and death which was in their members, 



142 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

they would still be under condemnation. It is not 
then because the law does not condemn inbred 
sin, that those who are in Christ have no condemna- 
tion, but because Christ has made them free from 
inbred sin. That is the reason the Apostle gives and 
we presume it to be the correct one. We conclude, 
then, that so long as men need to be convinced of sin, 
they are left under the law which was given to men 
for that purpose. When by the law they are brought 
to Christ and to salvation by faith, they are no longer 
under the pedagogue, for they have no further need 
of his services. " But after that faith is come, we 
are no longer under a schoolmaster." 



CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW 



" For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to 
everyone that believeth." — Rom. x: 4. 

H^HE relation of Christians to the law of God is a 
* subject of prime importance in practical Godli- 
ness. While it has not engaged the attention of the- 
ologians in recent times, it was formerly a much 
mooted question. Even in the first centuries of the 
Christian era, the subject produced controversy in 
the Church, and various opinions were advocated. We 
are told by Church historians that the Gnostics, a 
sect which arose in the first century of this era, so 
emphatically repudiated the law of Moses as to deny 
that it originated with the God of the new dispensa- 
tion, but held it to be the work of an inferior Deity, 
whom they called the Demiurge. We are told that 
they treated the law with great contempt, and some 
of them are said to have proceeded to such extremes 
as to counsel the breaking of the law as a Godly act, 
and one which showed their zeal for Christianity. 
Thus they fell into immoralities in the excess of their 
zeal for Christianity. Some commentators think the 
Apostle John had this sect in mind in writing his first 
general epistle, as they are said to have flourished in 
that part of Asia Minor where the Apostle lived. The 

(H3) 



144 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Jews were at the other extreme and depended upon 
obedience to the law for justification and salvation. 
" Being ignorant of God's righteousness and going 
about to establish their own righteousness, they did 
not submit themselves to the righteousness of God." 
That is, being ignorant of God's plan of justification, 
they endeavored to establish their own justification, 
by their works of obedience. Between these extremes 
lies the truth in the matter, and this truth we shall 
endeavor to find. Certain persons even at the pres- 
ent day hold opinions closely allied to those of the 
Gnostics, though they have not carried them to such a 
dangerous extreme. They hold that as Christ obeyed 
the law for believers, the obligation to obedience has 
been fully satisfied, and that there is no obligation 
upon the Christian, whatever, to obey the moral law. 
That, consequently, His conduct is a matter of indif- 
ference, as it can have nothing to do whatever with 
the question of His salvation. That Christ's obedience 
is imputed to the believer, and the believer's disobe- 
dience is imputed to Christ; and that, consequently, 
the believer's conduct is not taken into consideration ; 
it is entirely covered. The Father looks at Christ's 
obedience only, and never at the disobedience of the 
believer. This tends to destroy all incentive to good 
works. In fact, good works become a matter of no 
consequence in such a scheme. Yet there is much 
truth mixed up with some error, in this view of the 
Christian's relation to the law. People who hold to 
the views above described are usually called Antino- 



CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 45 

mians ; that is, those opposed to the law. They have 
been accused of teaching that the more a believer 
sins, the more he magnifies the grace of God ; for 
where sin abounds, grace does the more abound. But 
the Apostle Paul answers that suggestion where he 
asks, " Shall we continue in sin that grace may 
abound? God forbid." There are two principles 
laid down by the Apostle Paul that present opposite 
sides of this subject and at first sight may seem an- 
tagonistic. First, that Christ is the end of the law, 
and second, that grace establishes the law. 

The two propositions are true, but manifestly not 
true in the same sense. The law is not abolished in 
the same sense in which it is established. We will 
inquire in the first place in what sense the law is 
abolished. We are not to understand that the moral 
law is absolutely set aside. This cannot be true. 
The moral law is that law which grows out of and is 
established upon the relations of responsible beings 
to one another, and to those they are dependent 
upon, and to those dependent upon them. So soon 
as the relation begins, the duty begins. And so long 
as the relation continues, the duty continues. The 
duty is not dependent upon any statute or declara- 
tion. For instance : man is related to God as his 
creator. Out of this relation grow duties toward 
God encumbent upon man. So soon as man was 
made, these obligations began. And so long as man 
remains God's creature, they will continue. The 
first table of the Decalogue is founded upon these 

S. F. S.— 10 



146 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

relations. Man also owes duties to his fellows, because 
of his. relation to them. The second table of the 
Decalogue relates to these duties. Man also has 
some relation to the lower animals, and there are 
some duties growing out of these relations though 
they are not mentioned in the Decalogue. Parents 
owe duties to their children,- and though the duties 
of children to parents are enjoined in the Decalogue, 
the duties of parents to their children are not men- 
tioned. I speak of these things to show the differ- 
ence between the moral law and the Decalogue, a 
distinction which is often overlooked. They are 
generally confounded though they are by no means 
the same. There is a civil law called the common 
law. This is an unwritten law growing out of the 
civil relations of men in civilized society. Then 
there is statute law produced by legislative enact- 
ment. The first has gradually grown up as men's 
civil rights have been understood. The other is 
made and changed by legislators. The common law 
cannot be repealed because it grows out of the 
nature of things and changes only as that changes 
out of which it grows. Statutory law on the other 
hand, though a partial expression of the same rights 
and duties, is continually changed by legislative 
authority. The common law is irrepealable. Statute 
law is subject to repeal or change at the option of 
the power that made it. The same relation exists 
between the moral law and the Decalogue. The 
moral law is an unwritten law. The Decalogue is 



CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 47 

statutory. It is a partial expression of the moral 
law, but is not the moral law. The moral law cannot 
be changed unless the nature of the relations change 
out of which it grows. The Decalogue, being a 
statute, may be set aside, and can be obligatory only 
upon them for whom it was made. Common law is 
equity. The only question under the common law 
is: What is right? Statute law defines a crime and 
imposes a penalty. Under it the question is : What 
does the law say? If it is violated the penalty must 
be imposed. So the moral law is righteousness. It 
respects the intentions rather than the act. The 
Decalogue, on the other hand, condemns every viola- 
tion, whatever be the intention. It says : "Thou shalt 
not kill. " Every man who kills, violates that law, 
whether it was his intention or not. Unless the 
homicide could get out from under the dominion of 
the law, the avenger of blood had a right to kill him, 
though the act was the result of accident. The law 
made no allowance for ignorance or mistake. As 
God made man he was not subject to mistake. 
His judgment was perfect ; his powers were equal 
to the demands the law made. If through his 
own fault he had lost those powers, the law could 
not be lowered to suit his weakness. I have said the 
moral law primarily respects the intention rather than 
the act, yet as man was made, his conduct would 
have been as perfect as his intentions, and his obedi- 
ence would have been as perfect outwardly as in- 
wardly ; and so every error in conduct is a technical 



148 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

violation of the moral law, and makes the culprit sub- 
ject to the penalty. All perfect intelligences stand by 
obedience and fall by disobedience. Man so stood 
in the beginning. But when he sinned he lost the 
power to obey. As he could keep the moral law 
neither in intention nor practice, there was no hope 
for him in the law. It could do nothing for him but 
to condemn him. A partial transcript of this law 
was given him in the Decalogue, as a means of mak- 
ing him acquainted with his lost condition, as we have 
shown in the preceding sermon. But it is plain, and 
soon becomes plain to the awakened sinner, that on 
the footing of the law there is no hope for lost man. 
He can do nothing but transgress it. Even where he 
seemed to keep the law, he soon sees there was no 
real obedience. If lost man is ever saved it must be 
on some other plan than by obedience to law. Hence 
arises the necessity of salvation by grace. In this 
scheme, faith in Christ is accepted in place of obedi- 
ence to law, as a ground of acceptance with God. 
" Christ is the end of the law for justification to every 
one that believeth." Not that the law ever was a 
means of justification to any sinner. " By the deeds 
of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight ; for 
by the law is the knowledge of sin." We are not to 
understand, then, that the law ceased to be a means 
of justification, and that Christ came in its place as 
a source of justification. Christ is the end of the law, 
and is for justification to the believer, but not in 
place of the law as a justifier, since the law never was 



CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 49 

a justifier. It was intended to condemn and to do 
nothing else ; and as long as a sinner needs to be 
condemned, he needs the law to condemn him. If 
there were sin in believers they would still need the 
law to condemn them, and to give them the knowl- 
edge of that sin. And as John Wesley taught the 
doctrine of sin in believers, he also taught that 
Christians needed the law to develop that sin. He 
was vehemently accused of being legal by the Cal- 
vinists of his day, and in this teaching he most surely 
laid himself open to the charge. Since faith is come, 
we are no longer under the schoolmaster, says the 
Apostle. Whatever, as a pedagogue, the law was in- 
tended to do for us, we need it in that office no 
longer. Mr. Wesley states truly that the law was 
intended to condemn, and to give the knowledge of 
sin. Then in these offices we need it no longer, for 
we are no longer under the pedagogue since faith is 
come. 

First. Christ is the end of the law, then, as a source 
of condemnation, because he has become to the be- 
liever a source of justification, and these two states 
are incompatible. No one can be justified and con- 
demned at one and the same time. It is the office of 
the law to condemn, and expose sin, and the office of 
Christ to justify and cover sin. " Blessed are they 
whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are cov- 
ered." We cannot have them both at the same time ; 
one evidently excludes the other. Thus when the 
law has done all it can do for us, and has brought us 



150 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

to Christ, its office ceases, and Christ becomes the 
end of it. The very fact that Christ's office as justi- 
fier has begun, is certain evidence that the office of 
the law as prosecutor has ceased. Another proof 
that the law is nothing to a Christian, is found in 
St. Paul's declaration in Rom. iii : 1 9. "Now we 
know that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them 
who are under the law, that every mouth may be 
stopped, and all the world may become guilty before 
God." In Rom. vi: 14 he says, "For sin shall not 
have dominion over you ; for ye are not under the law 
but under grace." Since, then, Christians are not 
under the law, the law says nothing to them ; for 
whatsoever it saith, it saith to them that are under it. 
Furthermore in his letter to Timothy the Apostle uses 
the following language (I. Tim. i : 8—9) , "But we 
know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully; 
knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous 
man, but for the lawless and disobedient," etc. It 
seems plain, then, that to apply the law to the use of 
a righteous man, for whom it was not made, would be 
using it unlawfully. Christ is, then, the end of the 
law as a means of condemnation. In that office 
the believer has no use for it, and it says nothing 
to him. 

Second. Christ is the end of the law as a means of 
justification. The law, given to holy and perfect 
creatures, was intended to be a means of justification, 
and answers that end among perfect and pure intel- 
ligences. But sinful man finds it only an instrument 



CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. I 5 I 

of condemnation. But even after man has been 
restored to that moral image of God which he lost in 
the fall, he is not yet where he can be justified by the 
law, for the reason that his weakness and infirmities 
resulting from the unredeemed condition of his body 
make it impossible to keep the holy and perfect law 
of God without fault. While the Christian does keep 
the law of God in motive and intention, he cannot 
keep it in deed and fact. He will be constantly vio- 
lating it in its letter, though not in its spirit. So as he 
cannot perfectly keep the law, he cannot be cleared 
by it. He is an involuntary transgressor of it, day by 
day. On account of his weakness and ignorance, he 
needs that allowance should be made. But there is 
no mercy in law. It is justice and nothing else. It is 
manifest, then, that as every jot and tittle of the law 
is sacred, and no abatement of its demands is possi- 
ble, that there is no possibility that imperfect men 
should live by it. The least violation means death. 
The believer can no more stand by obedience, then, 
than the unbeliever, as a single error would work his 
condemnation. In the Gospel scheme it is proposed 
that the believer should stand by faith and not by the 
works of the law. As in the case of the penitent 
sinner, his faith is imputed to him for righteousness, 
so in the case of the converted man. He stands by 
faith, and not by obedience. If he were justified by 
the law, he would live by doing, but as it is of grace, 
he lives by believing. The law says, " He that doeth 
these things shall live by them," But grace says, 



152 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

" He that believeth hath everlasting life." To teach 
a man to work in order to live, is to put him under 
the law, and to cause him to fall from grace. To 
teach him to use the " means of grace" in order to 
live, is to deceive him, as there is but one means 
of grace, and that is faith. No work, however good, 
can be a means or condition of grace. It is faith that 
communicates or conveys grace to our souls, and 
there is nothing else that will do it. Prayer is not a 
means of grace ; fasting is not ; reading the word is 
not; hearing preaching is not. Faith in prayer, 
fasting, reading, hearing, is a means of grace, and it 
is acknowledged that none of these things are means 
of grace without faith. It is the faith exercised in 
the doing of these things that conveys the grace, and 
it will be equally efficacious in conveying grace when 
we are not doing them. To call these exercises 
means of grace, is misleading, for prayer is no more a 
means of grace than labor in field or shop is. The 
one condition of life is faith. There is no justifica- 
tion by the law. Yet the whole universe is under the 
domain of God's law, as the law is only a manifesta- 
tion of the principle of eternal righteousness. The 
believer then needs a refuge from the demands of the 
law, where grace can be extended to him. The Lord 
Jesus Christ is this refuge. How can the law be vindi- 
cated, and yet grace be shown to the infirm and weak ? 
The law can only be vindicated by obedience, full 
and perfect. So the law maker, himself, who was not 
subject to law, put himself under the law and fulfilled 



CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 53 

every jot and tittle of it. He vindicated it and made 
it honorable. He obeyed it, not for himself, but for 
believers. And the Father accepts His obedience in 
place of ours, so that the holy law of God has no de- 
mands upon the man who has accepted for himself 
the benefits of Christ's obedience. He not only took 
the chastisement of our peace upon Himself and bore 
our sins, but He fulfilled the law for us and satisfied 
its demands. Jesus himself declared that not one jot 
nor tittle of the law should pass away until all was 
fulfilled. The intimation is that these shall pass 
away after its fulfillment. But they pass away only 
for the man who takes refuge under Christ's vicarious 
atonement and obedience. He is our city of refuge 
to which we can flee with confidence. The cities of 
refuge which God commanded the Jews to set apart 
in the tribes of Israel, were types of Christ. The 
law against murder was in full force all over the land 
except in these cities. The law provided that he 
should have his blood shed by man, who shed the 
blood of his fellowman. No exception was made. 
Sometimes men shed the blood of their fellows from 
malice ; usually it was done intentionally, but some- 
times it was accidental. But the law made no allow- 
ance for mistake or accident. There can be no such 
thing in the universe while it remains as God made 
it. The avenger of blood was in duty bound to spill 
the blood of the manslayer, however the killing may 
have occurred. But in order that the involuntary 
transgressor might not suffer with the real criminal. 



154 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

cities of refuge were appointed in all the tribes to 
which the homicide might flee. But as the malicious 
slayer would be likely to take advantage of this merci- 
ful provision, it was ordered that an inquest should be 
made concerning the crime. The slayer was brought to 
the gates of the city and the circumstances of the case 
scrutinized. If it appeared that the person was killed 
intentionally, the criminal was no longer permitted 
the rights of asylum in the city, but was turned 
over to the executioner. But if it appeared that the 
killing was accidental, the unfortunate victim of cir- 
cumstances was allowed to remain in the city of refuge. 
But he was compelled to remain there, or if he chose 
to go out of the city, he did so at his peril. Justice re- 
mained on the outside of the city walls ; in the city 
alone was mercy dominant. He must remain in the city 
of refuge until the death of the high priest. Then he 
might again go abroad without danger. Just as the 
accidental criminal was safe in the city of refuge, but 
nowhere else, so the believer is safe in Christ, but no- 
where else. Out from under the shelter of Jesus' 
merits, the law would doom him to death. But as the 
voluntary transgressor found no security in the city 
of refuge, just so the voluntary transgressor finds no 
asylum in Christ. He is not the minister of sin ; He 
does not protect voluntary transgressors from the pen- 
alties due their transgressions. It is from the effects 
of involuntary infractions of the holy law of God, re- 
sulting from weakness and ignorance, that Christ 
shelters us. It is true that He frees us from 



CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 55 

all the demands of the holy and perfect law, 
but He substitutes in its place another law that 
leaves no place for voluntary transgression. We 
are "not without law to God," but are "under 
the law of Christ." Christ is the end of the law 
as a means of justification, which it never has 
been to sinners, but which it is to all perfect in- 
telligences. 

Third. Christ is also the end of the law as to its 
dominion. We are not under the law but under 
grace. We are no longer answerable to it. It is no 
more to us than the law of retaliation was to the in- 
voluntary murderer in the city of refuge. To us it is 
a dead letter. The law is not destroyed ; it reigns 
over the whole universe except in one place ; and that 
place is "in Christ." As the law of retaliation pre- 
vailed over all the land of Israel except in the city of 
refuge, but was there inoperative, so the holy law of God 
is inoperative in Christ Jesus. There another standard 
obtains. For the law of perfect obedience is substi- 
tuted the law of love. To those who are in Christ, 
"love is the fulfilling of the law." The law of love, 
the law written in their hearts, supersedes, for the 
time being, the law of perfect obedience. This is a 
law which believers can keep. It respects the inten- 
tion, alone, and not the act. If the intention is pure, 
proceeding from love, the act is not considered ma- 
terial. If the act is not good, considered by itself, it 
is because ignorance or infirmity has interposed to 
prevent it; and these defects are unconditionally 



156 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

covered by Christ's perfect vicarious obedience. 
There must be perfect obedience and conduct some- 
where, and as it is not in us it must be in our substi- 
tute. As to us, mercy reigns, and the pure intention 
is accepted in place of perfection in conduct. So 
while the Christian's nature and intentions are ac- 
ceptable to God, complying with the demands of His 
holy law, his conduct needs to have constant allow- 
ance made for it, and can be acceptable and reward- 
able only for Jesus' sake. We are, consequently, 
continual debtors to grace ; we stand in need of mercy 
all the time. Boasting is forever excluded, for our 
best works need the atoning merits of Christ. The 
law has lost its dominion and grace reigns trium- 
phantly over us. 

"Grace first contrived a way 
To save rebellious man, 
And all the steps that grace display 
That formed the wondrous plan." 

Fourth. The holy and perfect law is no longer 
the rule of his life, or he could never possess a good 
conscience. Love is the standard by which he 
measures himself and by which he is measured. 
Love is the touchstone by which all his feelings and 
conduct are tested. It is the law written in his 
heart, not on tables of stone. If all his feelings 
and actions proceed from love to God and man, 
then he stands acquitted and nothing condemna- 
tory can be laid to his charge. Anything in ac- 



CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. I 57 

cordance with love is right. Anything contrary to 
love is wrong. 

"That perfect law of thine, 

Savior to me impart ; 
The Spirit's law of life Divine, 

O, write it on my heart. 
Implant it deep within 

Whence it may ne'er remove 
The law of liberty from sin 

The perfect law of love." 

We shall consider, next, how faith establishes 
the law. The Apostle says (Rom. lil 131), "Do we 
then make void the law through faith? God forbid; 
yea, we establish the law." First, faith, or salvation 
by grace through faith, establishes the law as to the 
intent of it. The spirit of the law, or as the Apostle 
Paul expresses it, the righteousness of the law is es- 
tablished. Rom. viii 14, "That the righteousness of 
the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after 
the flesh, but after the Spirit." The whole intent of 
the law was loving obedience. I. Tim. i : 5, "Now 
the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure 
heart," etc. When Jesus was asked what was the 
great commandment in the law, he replied (Matt, 
xxii 137-40), "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
thy mind. This is the first and great command- 
ment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two com- 
mandments hang all the law and the prophets." Love 



158 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

to God and man is, then, the essence of the law, and 
this is established by salvation by grace through 
faith. This is the law, which, according to promise, 
is written in the heart of every believer. It becomes 
the moving power of his life, the source of every 
affection and of every act. Christ fulfilled the law 
in letter and in spirit, but the whole spirit of the law 
is fulfilled in every child of God. Each true believer 
has the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the 
Holy Ghost given unto him. Consequently each 
believer loves God with all his heart, and his neigh- 
bor as himself. Nothing else avails with God. "For 
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any- 
thing nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by 
love." " If any man love me, he will keep my 
words," said Jesus. He does not say that he ought 
to keep them, or will try to keep them, but he will 
keep them. " This is the love of God, that we keep 
his commandments, and his commandments are not 
grievous." The spirit of loving obedience is in every 
Christian heart, and if he fails in his conduct to carry 
out this spirit, it is through ignorance or infirmity. 
A faith that does not infallibly produce a cheerful 
obedience to God, a life flowing from love to God 
and man, is a faith that does not unite men to God ; 
it is a dead faith such as devils have. The intent, 
the spirit, the righteousness of the law, are estab- 
lished by faith. . 

Second. In the end the law will be established in 
its entirety through salvation by faith. Faith and 



CHRIST THE END OF THE LAW. 1 59 

hope will ere long have accomplished their benign 
purposes, and will pass away. When that which is 
perfect is come and we shall know as we are known, 
we will no longer need faith. As is sometimes said, 
"Faith will be sweetly lost in sight," though love will 
endure forever. Salvation by grace is a temporary 
arrangement, and was introduced in order to accom- 
plish a glorious purpose. If it pleased the Lord to 
make His people complete in soul and body at once, 
they would no longer need grace, but could stand by 
obedience to the holy law of God as the angels do. 
But it has pleased God, for a wise purpose, to have 
His people here in this world, for a longer or shorter 
time, to be tried and proved. They are not yet per- 
fect, since they have not attained to the resurrection 
of the dead. So they need the grace of God. They 
need Christ, a city of refuge, from the literal demands 
of the law. But when human nature, through the 
redemption which is in Christ Jesus, has been restored 
to its original perfection, human beings will be able to 
obey the law in spirit and in letter, and will once more 
stand by obedience, and the reign of the holy, perfect 
law will be universal. So grace will finally establish the 
law over those who now, for a time, are excepted from 
its sway. Then that Divine order which sin so rudely 
interrupted, will be established among all pure intel- 
ligences, and redemption's scheme will have become 
a glorious reminiscence. 

In conclusion we will recapitulate the points al- 
ready set forth : 



160 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

I. First. Christ is the end of the law so far as its 
office of condemning is concerned. Believers do not 
need it in this office as there is no condemnation to 
them that are in Christ Jesus. 

Second. Christ is the end of the law for righteous- 
ness or justification. Not that any sinner was ever 
justified by the law, but all pure and perfect intelli- 
gences are, and it is the standard of justification or 
condemnation everywhere except in Christ. > 

Third. Christ is the end of the law as to domin- 
ion. Believers are not under its sway and it does 
not speak to them but to those alone who are under it. 

Fourth. Christ is the end of the law to the be- 
liever as a rule of life. He is not judged by it but 
by the law of love alone. 

II. First. Faith establishes the law as to its spirit 
and intent. The righteousness of the law is fulfilled 
in believers. 

Second. Faith establishes the law in that it will 
eventually bring believers under its dominion again 
when the whole design of grace is accomplished. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT— ITS GIFT, AND 
OFFICES 



"And behold I send the promise of my Father upon 
you." — Luke xxiv : 49. 

HPHE peculiar work of the Holy Spirit is the dis- 
* tinguishing mark of the Christian age, or dis- 
pensation. Without the gift of the Holy Ghost, 
Christianity would differ from previous ages in but a 
few unimportant particulars. When professed Chris- 
tians are destitute of the Holy Spirit, they are desti- 
tute of all that characterizes Christianity. Whatever 
else they may have is, at best, but a mere circum- 
stantial of Christianity, if it be, indeed, any part of it 
at all. Yet in the strife of sects and parties, and 
their various claims to orthodoxy, how little stress is 
laid upon the essential thing. As Charles Wesley 
has so pertinently written : 

"Ye different sects, who all declare 
Lo ! here is Christ, or Christ is there — 
Your stronger proofs Divinely give, 
And show me where the Christians live. 
Your claims, alas ! ye cannot prove — 
Ye lack the genuine mark of love. " 

This love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy 
Ghost given unto us. Without the Holy Spirit we 
are destitute of the love. This fact shows how wide 

S.F.S.-ll (!6i) 



1 62 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

of the truth the common conceptions of Christianity 
are ; how much stress is laid upon the accidental, and 
how little upon the essential. 

When Jesus speaks of sending the Comforter, the 
Holy Spirit, into the world, we are not to suppose 
that up to this time the Holy Spirit had never been 
in the world at all. This is far from being the truth. 
We are told that in the beginning the Spirit of God 
brooded upon the face of the waters, making them 
prolific of animal life. We are also told that the 
holy men of old who wrote Scripture, wrote as they 
were moved by the Holy Ghost. He inspired the 
prophets, and they spoke, under his Divine guidance, 
many things which they, themselves, did not under- 
stand. We are given to understand that the Holy 
Spirit strove with the antediluvians of whom the Lord 
says : " My spirit shall not always strive with man." 
No doubt every good thought, every good desire and 
impulse, from the fall of man to the present day, has 
been the work of the Holy Spirit. He has always 
been in the world, just as the eternal Word has 
always been in the world. As He is God, He is 
everywhere present. But as the Word was made 
flesh and dwelt among men, as He was sent on a 
special mission, and accomplished a special work, so 
the Blessed Spirit was specially sent into the world to 
accomplish a special work. The work of the incar- 
nate Word was to procure salvation for men; to- make 
it available. The work of the Holy Spirit is to work 
this salvation in men; to make it a fact of their 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 63 

experience. The one is just as important and neces- 
sary in the salvation of men as the other. We can 
no more be saved without the work of the Holy 
Spirit in us, than without the work of the Son of God 
for us. To deny this work of the Holy Spirit, then, 
is just as fatal to Godliness as to deny the vicarious 
atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet we find 
some persons who lay great stress upon the work of 
Christ for us, who deny or ignore the work of the 
Holy Spirit. They would call anyone an infidel 
who denied the essential Divinity of the Lord Jesus 
and rejected his Atonement ; but they are equally in- 
fidel who deny the Holy Ghost. The work of the one 
is the necessary complement of the other. Without 
the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus died in vain. To 
provide the price of redemption, and to make no pro- 
vision for applying it to the actual emancipation of 
the enslaved, would be a waste of labor. Jesus pro- 
vided salvation; He paid the price of redemption; 
He provided the remedy. It is the work of the Holy 
Spirit to accomplish that salvation in us, to apply 
the provision to our needs. It was absolutely as 
essential for the salvation of men that the Holy Spirit 
should come, as that Christ should come. Nothing 
could be done to wash men from their sins until the 
Spirit was sent. 

Jesus says He was straitened until His baptism was 
accomplished. "I have a baptism to be baptized 
with ; and how am I straitened until it be accom- 
plished." (Luke xii : 50.) He could perform works of 



1 64 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

mercy upon the bodies of men, but could not save 
their souls. He could tell men the truth but could 
not give them understanding of that truth. That was 
not His work. The vail was on their hearts but it 
was not His office to take it away. He was the Light 
of the World, but the darkness did not comprehend 
the light, and it was not His work to give compre- 
hension. He gave sight to those who were born 
blind to natural things, but it was not His work to open 
the eyes of their understanding. All these things be- 
long to the office of the Comforter, the Paraclete. 
The Lord Jesus lived and died misunderstood. Not 
one human being during His whole stay upon earth 
ever understood Him, or comprehended His mission. 
Without the gift of the Holy Spirit, He never would 
have been understood. His life and death would 
have remained an enigma to this day. But though 
Jesus was so straitened while here, when He ascended 
on high " He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto 
men." He expressly declared that the Comforter 
would not'come unless He went away. And though 
the Disciples were so reluctant to give Him up, he told 
them that it was for their profit that He should go 
away. Not that it would be good for them to remain 
orphans, but that they needed something done for 
them that it was not His office to do. It was hard 
for them to understand how it could be better for 
them for Him to be absent, yet He assured them that 
it was the truth. The great work of purifying and 
sanctifying men was held in abeyance while He 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 65 

remained on earth. The great work of restoring men 
to the favor and image of God, of bringing them back 
again to their pristine state of holiness and innocence, 
of recovering them, soul and body, from the results 
of the fall, is committed to the Holy Spirit proceed- 
ing from the Father and the Son. 

The offices of the Holy Spirit are various and man- 
ifold, and we shall endeavor to recount them in a 
general way. 

First. The first office of the Spirit is to convince of 
sin. This we have already spoken of in another 
place, but will repeat briefly. By nature man is blind 
to Spiritual things because they are Spiritually dis- 
cerned. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to open 
blind eyes and turn men from darkness to light. Jesus 
says of the Comforter, "And when He is come He 
will reprove (convince) the world of sin, of righteous- 
ness, and of judgment." No doubt there was an in- 
fluence of the Spirit in the world previous to the 
descent of the Holy Ghost, that gave men some sense 
of sin and wrong, in all times and in all lands. It 
produced in men a sense of guilt, and of wrath be- 
cause of guilt. But as the time had not come to save 
men from sin, they were not given a full and distinct 
knowledge of sin. It was unnecessary, and would have 
been cruelty and not mercy. It was not necessary 
for man to know how terribly he was lost, until res- 
cue was provided. But when the salvation was made 
available then it was necessary for man to see these 
things in their true light; in the light of God. It is 



1 66 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

the office of the Holy Spirit, through the law, to give 
men a knowledge of sin. He removes the vail of 
ignorance from their hearts and enables them to see 
sin as God sees it. Without this work of the Spirit, 
men could never know sin. The law, the standard of 
righteousness, could impart no knowledge to a blind 
man. The Spirit opens our eyes and enables us to 
measure ourselves by the standard. 

Second. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to give 
repentence or penitence. This Godly sorrow for sin 
which follows our voluntary relinquishment of it, is 
the work of the Blessed Spirit. We never could 
actually forsake sin, as we resolve to do, unless this 
sorrow was wrought in us. Many resolutions to do 
better are never carried out for lack of this help. We 
never can really forsake one sin unless we forsake all 
sin ; for so long as we hold on to one iniquity, the Lord 
will give us no help. Says the Psalmist, "If I regard 
iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." 
But when we resolve to forsake every sin in the light 
of God's Spirit, then the Godly sorrow is wrought in us 
by the blessed Spirit. This enables us to put our 
good resolutions into practice. When we have learned 
to abhor that which is evil, we can easily refrain from 
evil. 

Third. It is the office of the Holy Spirit to renew 
our natures ; to cleanse us from our unholiness, and 
to baptize us into the one body of Christ. The old 
man is by Him destroyed and the new man is pro- 
duced. In conviction for sin we are said to be 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 67 

begotten of God, and in this change from sin to holi- 
ness we are said to be born of God. But we are 
begotten by the Spirit and born of the Spirit. It is 
all His work. This wonderful change from nature to 
grace is also called a baptism. So we are said to be 
baptized by the Spirit into the body or Church of 
Christ. This burial of the old nature, and the raising 
up of the new nature is called a baptism. I am well 
aware that there are those who deny that the baptism 
of the Holy Spirit is the privilege of all believers, 
but this denial is made in the face of all the evidence. 
Their claim is that there were but two instances of 
the baptism of the Holy Spirit; one at Pentecost and 
the other at the house of Cornelius. That to all 
Christians is promised the gift of the Holy Spirit, 
but not the baptism. This is making a distinction 
where there is no difference. John the Baptist evi- 
dently did not understand the matter in that way for he 
promised the baptism of the Holy Ghost to all those 
whom he baptized. He said to those whom he bap- 
tized, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repent- 
ance ; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, 
whose shoes I am not worthy to bear : he shall 
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire" (Mat. iii : 
11.) As John baptized all Jerusalem and Judea, and 
the regions round about Jordan, he promised this 
baptism of the Holy Spirit to thousands. Now 
either John was misinformed, or these objectors are 
mistaken. Further, it is evident that this distinction 
between the gift and baptism of the Holy Spirit was 



1 68 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

unknown to Peter. For in the account he gave to 
the brethren at Jerusalem of his preaching to Cor- 
nelius, he uses this language: "Then remembered I 
the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed 
baptized with water ; but ye shall be baptized with 
the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch as God gave them the 
like gift, as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord 
Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand 
God." (Acts xi: 16, 17.) Here he quotes Christ's 
promise of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and calls 
it a gift in the case of those at Pentecost and also at 
the house of Cornelius. Again in Acts x:45 we read, 
"And they of the circumcision which believed were 
astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that 
on the Gentiles was poured out the gift of the Holy 
Ghost." So as Cornelius got the gift of the Holy 
Ghost and that is promised to as many as the Lord 
our God shall call (Acts ii:39), and Peter says it 
was the like gift they received at the beginning, it fol- 
lows as that gift was the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 
that baptism is for all believers. 

Fourth. It is the office of the Holy Spirit to witness 
with the Spirit of the believer to the fact of his son- 
ship. While the transition from nature to grace, 
from the power of Satan to the Kingdom of God, can- 
not but be very apparent to the consciousness, yet 
there is a possibility of deception in the matter. 
That is, persons who have not the experience of re- 
generation are liable to imagine they have. There 
are other spirits instead of the Spirit of God that 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 69 

will assist in this deception. Great changes in the 
feelings may take place from causes natural or dia- 
bolical, and these changes of feeling may be mis- 
taken for God's work by those who are without ex- 
perience of Spiritual things. We sometimes see 
manifestations of violent emotions, and of an ecstatic 
kind, that manifestly do not come from God, though 
it may not be clear where they do originate. We 
know that they do not come from God because of 
the subsequent fruits, and have reason to think so 
from appearances at the time. Yet the subjects of 
these experiences are prone to ascribe them to the 
Spirit of God, and think them the fruits of conver- 
sion. If we were infallible in our judgments, our own 
consciousness, that is, the testimony of our own 
spirit, would be conclusive and satisfactory evidence 
of our Spiritual state. But this not being the case, 
in a matter of such an extraordinary nature, and of 
such transcendent importance, we cannot trust to the 
testimony of our own spirit alone. There is a pos- 
sibility of mistake, and that we cannot afford. In 
temporal matters, though the testimony of con- 
sciousness may sometimes lead us astray, yet the re- 
sults of mistake or deception are not lasting, or of 
such grave moment. So in these things conscious- 
ness is the highest evidence. But in eternal things 
the interests at stake are so great that we are fur- 
nished infallible testimony to the fact of our salvation. 
We are to be so assured of our acceptance with God 
and of our filial relation to Him that no room is left 



170 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

for doubt or uncertainty. In order to give us this 
full assurance of faith, the Holy Spirit is given to us 
to witness to our adoption. (Gal. iv : 6.) " Because ye 
are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into 
your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Rom.viii: 16.) 
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that 
we are the children of God." (I. John v: 6.) "And it 
is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit 
is truth." (10th verse.) "He that believeth on the 
Son of God hath the witness in himself." The wit- 
ness of the Spirit is called the "earnest of our inher- 
itance." (Eph. i: 13, 14.) "In whom also, after that 
ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of 
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until 
the redemption of the purchased possession." (II. Cor. 
i : 22.) "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earn- 
est of the Spirit in our hearts." (II. Cor. v : 5 .) " Now 
he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, 
who also hath given us the earnest of the Spirit." 
The witness of the Spirit is also called the seal of God. 
It is God's testimony of genuineness. Only those 
are His children, His representatives, who have this 
seal set on them. (Eph.iv:30.) " And grieve not the 
Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the 
day of redemption." (Eph. 1 :i3.) "In whom, also, 
after that ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy 
Spirit of promise." It is generally understood that 
a seal is an attestation of genuineness. Without this 
seal we are but pretenders to sonship ; we are count- 
erfeits. The Holy Spirit was the seal of Christ's 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 171 

sonship. It was said to John, "Upon whom thou 
shalt see the Spirit descending and remain on him, 
the same is he that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." 
And he declares, "I saw and bear record that this is 
the Son of God." (John i: 31, 32.) It is true that 
upon God's children generally the Spirit does not 
visibly descend, but the fruits of the sealing are 
plainly manifest in their lives. God's people are all 
anointed ones. They have an unction from the Holy 
One. The fact of the witness of the Spirit is plainly 
taught in the Scriptures ; the manner of it is revealed 
only to those who experience it. "The wind blow- 
eth where it listeth and thou heareth the sound there- 
of, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it 
goeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit." 
The witness of the Spirit is God's testimony to our 
own consciousness that we are born of God. 

" The Spirit answers to the blood 
And tells me I am born of God." 

It is the voice of God in our hearts. Sometimes 
men's imagination is so affected that they seem to 
hear an audible voice speaking to them at the same 
time they realize the voice within. It is a conscious 
manifestation of God to the soul. We call it a speak- 
ing to us, though it is not addressed to the outward 
ear. But by the Blessed Spirit, the Lord does give 
us assurance of our sonship, and such an assurance 
as excludes all doubt at the time. But someone may 
ask, " How can we know it to be God speaking?" I 



172 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

do not know that I can answer that. The fact, I 
know. But if God desires to manifest Himself to His 
creatures for their assurance and comfort, can He not 
do so? And if so, can He not make Himself known 
to the soul so that certainty is produced? infallible 
certainty? If creatures can communicate with each 
other to the exclusion of all doubt as to their identity, 
certainly the Almighty God can do as much. Yea, 
He can do more. When God speaks to us, we always 
recognize Him. We may imagine that He speaks 
when He does not, but there can be no mistake when 
He really speaks to us. 

" The opening heavens around me shine 
With beams of sacred bliss 
When Jesus shows His mercy mine 
And whispers, I am His." 

The witness of the Spirit is necessary to as- 
surance. Without it the believer is left a prey to 
doubt, and to the assaults of the adversary of his soul. 
Conscious of his own faults and infirmities, his weak- 
ness and failures, under the accusations of Satan, 
the accuser of the brethren, the believer would soon 
be persuaded to cast away his confidence, if the Spirit of 
God did not give him the assurance of the Divine favor. 
He could not hold out without this Heavenly succor. 
When a sense of his own unworthiness oppresses him, 
this Divine assurance is to him like life from the dead. 
It lifts his fainting spirits up ; it fills him with all joy 
and peace. It nerves him for the conflict before him, 
and he goes forth to the battle like a giant refreshed 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 73 

with new wine. With the Psalmist, he can say, "by 
my God and I can run through a troop ; by my God 
and I can leap over -a wall." Having the earnest of 
the Spirit we are always confident, and willing 
rather to be absent from the body and present with 
the Lord. It is this assurance of sonship and favor 
that robs death of its sting, and makes Heaven pres- 
ent to the believer. In the language of Charles 
Wesley, 

"We more than taste the Heavenly powers 

And antedate that day. 
We feel the Resurrection near — 

Our life in Christ concealed ; 
And with His glorious presence here 

Our earthen vessels filled." 

Through this indwelling witness, 

" Heaven already is begun — 
Opened in each believer." 

Fifth. Another office of the Holy Spirit is to guide 
His people into all truth. John xvi : 13, "Howbeit, 
when he, the Spirit of Truth is come, he. will guide 
you into all truth." He is to abide with the Church 
forever as its teacher and guide. Under this dispen- 
sation the promise is fulfilled, "And they shall be all 
taught of God." It was promised that under the new 
covenant, that "they shall not teach every man, his 
neighbor, and every man, his brother, saying, Know 
the Lord," for all should know Him. And John says 
to the disciples of his day, "Ye have an unction from 
the Holy One, and ye know all things ; and ye need 



174 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

not that any man teach you, but the same anointing 
teacheth you." Jesus declares himself to be the truth, 
and one man can no more communicate Spiritual truth 
to another, than he can communicate Christ to an- 
other. He may do either one instrumentally, but 
neither one actually. God may use man as an in- 
strument for the communication of truth, but he 
must be the agent in the work. As the Holy Spirit is to 
be the teacher of God's people, and their guide into 
the understanding of the truth, the foundation is laid 
for unity of faith. Those who have the same teaching 
learn the same things. If men have different teachers 
they will probably learn a variety of things. Jesus 
has expressly prohibited His Disciples from receiving 
any other teacher. He says, " Call no man, Rabbi." 
Unity among God's people is a vital matter. Jesus 
makes it the proof of His mission. Unity of spirit is 
necessary to unity of faith. The Apostle says : " En- 
deavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond 
of peace, 'til we all come into the unity of the 
faith." The reason why unity of faith is not found 
among the professed people of God is that they have 
not the unity of the Spirit. If they were all taught by 
the one Spirit they would all learn the same things, 
and so would be able to "speak the same things" and 
to be "perfectly joined together in the same mind 
and the same judgment." Without this unity of teach- 
ing, unity of faith is impossible. The Blessed Spirit 
is always ready to impart to us such knowledge 
of Spiritual things as is profitable for us. It is 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 75 

said: "If any man lack wisdom let him ask of 
God, who giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not, 
and it shall be given him." Jesus promises concern- 
ing the Comforter, " He shall teach you all things, 
and bring all things to your remembrance." And, 
again, " He shall receive of mine and shall show it 
unto you." And, again, "He shall show you things 
to come." Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit 
the Scriptures are sealed to us. We cannot under- 
stand them. We are in the same condition as the 
disciples were while Christ was with them. He 
wished to tell them many things, but they could not 
understand them. They needed the light of the 
Spirit. So do we. There is a natural craving for 
infallibility in Spiritual teachings. We want the truth 
without mistake. We want certainty, not the opinion 
of the scribes. We want authoritative teaching, some- 
one to speak with authority, and not as the scribes. 
This desire for authoritative teaching is perfectly 
reasonable. The Romanists claim to offer this infal- 
libility. They formerly taught that it resided in a 
general council. Now they ascribe this infallibility 
to the Pope of Rome. They call him, Father, "and 
Rabbi. When he speaks "ex cathedra," his teach- 
ings are infallible truth, so they claim. But we want 
the proof of this. We recognize the necessity for the 
infallible teacher, but where is the truth to substan- 
tiate the claim of the Pope? The Protestant replies, 
"The Scriptures are infallible truth." Admit it; 
where is the infallible interpreter of Scripture? 



176 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

No two sects interpret it alike. Have we no ora- 
cle that gives us reliable and infallible answers to 
our questions? The ancients had oracles. The 
prophets afforded means of communication between 
God and man. The Aaronic priesthood were also 
oracles. The priest with the ephod on received and 
gave out answers from God to questions asked. Cer- 
tainly it is as necessary now to know God's will as 
it ever was. God certainly has not shut himself off 
from all communication with His people. No, not by 
any means. We may yet be taught of God, and the 
Christian has much the advantage of the Jew in this 
respect. Their oracles were often distant and inac- 
cessible, but ours is always present, always accessi- 
ble. The Holy Spirit is the oracle of the Christian. 
He teaches us the truth, and guides us to the under- 
standing of it. He is the infallible interpreter of 
Scripture ; He takes the things of God and shows 
them unto us. "As many as are led by the Spirit of 
God, they are the Sons of God." (Rom. viii : 14.) 
He gives us the true understanding of Spiritual 
truth, and He interprets it alike to all. He directs 
our minds in worship, so that we, "sing with the 
Spirit" as well as with the understanding. He teaches 
us how to pray; "likewise the Spirit also helpeth 
our infirmities ; for we know not what we should 
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh in- 
tercession for us with groanings which cannot be 
uttered." (Rom. viii: 26.) There are many things 
about which we cannot know God's will except 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 77 

through the intercession of the Spirit, but " He mak- 
eth intercession for the saints according to the will 
of God." (Rom. viii : 27.) There can be no real prayer 
without the intercession of the Spirit. If He indite 
our petitions we can offer them in confidence that 
they are according to God's will. He must lead us 
in all our worship or it will be simply " will worship." 
He must give us the spirit of praise or our attempts 
at praise will be the offering of strange fire to God. 
In times of trouble and persecution He has promised 
to be mouth and wisdom to us. All genuine Gospel 
preaching is done under the leading of the Holy 
Spirit. Preaching done without Divine leadings is 
robbed of its meaning. Who can know the needs of 
the hearers and adapt his discourse to the satisfac- 
tion of those needs? This is beyond human knowl- 
edge or wisdom. The Spirit knoweth every heart 
and all its secret motives, all its hopes and fears, and 
He can so lead the mind of the preacher that each 
shall receive his portion, whether it be rebuke, ex- 
hortation, or comfort, that is needed. If the preacher 
really has a message from God, how exalted is his 
mission ! He that heareth him, heareth God. But if 
he hath no message from God, he can be neglected 
with impunity; no loss can be sustained. Not only 
does the Holy Spirit lead God's people in acts 
of worship and to an understanding of Divine truth, 
but even in the everyday affairs of life we can look 
to him for direction where our wisdom fails. The 
Psalmist says, "The steps of a good man are ordered 

S. F. S — 12 



178 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

of the Lord." We are also exhorted to acknowledge 
the Lord in all our ways and not to lean unto our 
own understanding. No doubt if our ways are com- 
mitted unto the Lord, He directs them a thousand 
times without our being conscious of His influence. 
We are not to look for conscious direction in all the 
trivial affairs of life. The Holy Spirit is not given to 
supersede reason and common sense, but to assist 
them. We are to use our reason in the affairs of life 
but to expect the Lord to assist our reason, and to in- 
fluence our judgment by the illumination of the Holy 
Spirit. We have a perfect right to expect the 
Spirit's guidance in all our affairs, since the Lord has 
invited us to ask for it. Though we may seem to 
reach our conclusions simply in the exercise of our 
reason, we know it is very easy for the Lord to in- 
fluence our choice. Sometimes His interposition is 
very manifest, sometimes completely hidden, never- 
theless He guides His people by. His Spirit. " He 
will show you things to come," says Christ. He en- 
ables us to foresee the evil that lies in our pathway, 
that we may avoid it. He enables His people to 
understand the signs of the times in which they live, 
so that "the wise shall understand." It is the mark 
of a purblind generation that they do no know the 
signs of their time or age. They do not know what 
the Lord is doing. Jesus says to his Disciples, "Hence- 
forth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth 
not what his Lord doeth ; but I have called you 
friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1 79 

I have made known unto you." (John xv : 15.) It is 
the privilege of Jesus' friends to know what He is 
doing. 

Sixth. The Holy Spirit is to raise our bodies 
from the dead. We are told that the body of Christ 
was quickened by the Spirit. And the Apostle Paul 
tells us in Rom. viii : 11, that, "If the Spirit of him 
that raised up Jesus from the dead be in you, he that 
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken 
your mortal bodies by the Spirit which dwelleth in 
you." Our Spiritual bodies are to be the work of 
the Holy Spirit. Through His agency are soul and 
body to be again united at the second coming of the 
Lord. It is His work to prepare the Bride for pres- 
entation to the Husband, and through His offices she 
is to be without spot or wrinkle, but wholly accep- 
table to the Lord and Master. No earthly soil, no 
mark of age, is to mar her Heavenly beauty, but 
eternal innocence and youth are to characterize her, 
the chosen of the Lord. This glorious work is ac- 
complished by the Holy Spirit. We conclude by 
asking the pertinent question, put to some ancient 
Disciples, " Have ye received the Holy Ghost since 
ye believed ? " 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST 



"Upon this rock I will build my church." — Luke xvi: 18. 

THE subject, upon the consideration of which we 
* are about to enter, is one of vast importance, 
and also one concerning which there is much misun- 
derstanding and confusion. It seems reasonable to 
suppose that if Christ founded a Church on earth, it 
ought to be easily distinguished from all other insti- 
tutions. It certainly would be unlike institutions be- 
longing to this world. But so many claimants to the 
name have arisen, who loudly declare themselves to 
be the Church of Jesus Christ, that the ordinary ob- 
server is confused and thrown into doubt upon the 
subject. He can scarcely decide which has the best 
claim or whether any of their pretensions are well 
founded. We shall endeavor to view the subject in 
the light of reason and Scripture. The English 
word " Church " is a corruption of the Greek word 
"kuriake" which means, the house or household of 
the Lord. It is not a translation of the Greek word, 
" ekklesia " which means, a called out, or chosen 
out people ; yet it is the word used in the English 
translation where the word '• ekklesia " occurs in the 
original. The basic meaning of the Greek word, ren 
dered "church" is that of calling, or choosing, out. 
The Church is, then, above everything else, a chosen 
out people ; a people separate from the remainder of 
(180) 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. l8l 

mankind. The nature of that separation depends 
upon the nature of the Church. The old covenant 
Church was a carnal institution, earthly and typical. 
It was composed also of a chosen out people. That 
Church was called out in a natural sense from the 
nations, put into a land by itself, and distinguished 
from the other nations by carnal ordinances, meats 
and drinks, that were to continue until the time of 
reformation. They were literally taken out from 
among the nations of the earth, and their distinguish- 
ing marks were fleshly. But the Church of Christ is 
the antetype of this. It is Spiritual and Heavenly ; 
it is the Heavenly Jerusalem in contradistinction to 
the earthly Jerusalem ; consequently, its choosing out 
is a Spiritual, and not a literal or outward, separation 
from the world. Its distinguishing marks are not in 
the flesh or of a fleshly nature, but of a Spiritual 
nature, not visible to the fleshly eye. Jesus prayed 
for His people, not that they should be taken out of 
the world, but that they might be kept from the evil. 
In a Spiritual sense, they are taken out of the world, 
but in a literal sense they are left in the world. It is 
not necessary, then, to the existence of Christ's 
Church, that it should be separated from the world 
in any literal or outward sense, but it is essential to 
its existence that it should be separated from the 
world in a Spiritual sense. It must be altogether 
different from the world in its spirit. The com- 
mon mistake, made almost universally, is that the 
line of demarkation between the Church and the 



1 82 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

world is one of a fleshly nature ; that it is something 
outward and cognizable by the natural man. The 
remark is often made that this line of separation is 
becoming obliterated and scarcely distinguishable. 
This is a grand mistake. The separation between 
the Church of Christ and the world is just as wide 
and deep, just as clearly drawn, as it ever was. When 
Jesus takes a man out of the world, it is just as dis- 
tinctly and completely done as it ever was. The 
separation consequent upon that choosing out is as 
perfect as it was in the beginning. No outward forms 
nor human organizations are necessary to the separa- 
tion of the Church from the world. The boundary 
line between the Church and the world is not marked 
by creeds nor confessions of faith, but her walls are 
called salvation and her gates praise. Isa. Ix:i8, 
"But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy 
gates Praise." Isa. xxvi:i, " Salvation will God ap- 
point for walls and bulwarks." While the Church is 
Spiritually out of the world, it is literally in the 
world, and does not need to seek to isolate itself from 
the world. It needs no hermit's cell nor monk's 
cloister to gain perfection, nor to avoid contamina- 
tion. She says in the language of Wesley: — 

"To the desert or the cell 

Let others blindly fly; 
In this evil world I dwell 

Unhurt, unspotted, I. 
Here I find a house of prayer, 

To which I inwardly retire, 
Walking unconcerned in care, 

And unconsumed in fire." 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 83 

The Church of Jesus Christ is called His body, and 
as that cannot be understood to mean His physical 
body it must mean His Spiritual body. It is a Spir- 
itual organism and is, therefore, distinct from the 
Church founded in the family of Abraham. It was 
not a Spiritual body but an earthly one. It was one 
nation by natural birth, just as other nations are. In 
no respect did it differ from other nations except in 
ceremonials. The Church of Christ is also one nation, 
but not -by natural, but by Spiritual, birth. It is 
called a holy nation. It was not one people natur- 
ally, but by a Spiritual birth it has become the peo- 
ple of God. There is no more identity between the 
Abrahamic Church and the Church of Christ, than be- 
tween the annual sacrifices offered in the one, and the 
sacrifice of Christ. One was a type of the other, in 
each case. All conclusions based upon that identity, 
and all inferences drawn from it thus fall to the 
ground. They cannot be identical as they differ 
totally in nature, one being carnal, the other Spiritual. 
Jesus speaks of His Church as not being yet built. He 
says, "I will build my church." It is said to be 
" built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cor- 
ner stone." (Eph. ii : 20.) But if Abraham, Isaac, 
Ishmael and Jacob, were built into this edifice, then 
they were built into a house without any foundation, 
as they were before all the prophets, to say nothing 
of Christ and the Apostles. It is common in archi- 
tecture to lay the foundation first, as being the only 



1 84 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

sure way of securing the permanency of the structure. 
We take it for granted, then, that the corner stone was 
laid before the Church was erected. One of the doc- 
trines deduced from this supposed identity of the two 
bodies is " Infant church membership" and conse- 
quently, " Infant baptism." The argument is, " God 
put infants into the Abrahamic Church, and as it is 
identical with the Church of Christ they must still 
have a right of membership in the Church ; and if so 
they have a right to the initiatory rite, water bap- 
tism." The premise being false the conclusion 
is false. The Apostle Paul's illustration of the 
olive tree, though at first sight it may seem to 
prove this identity, does not do so. If the two 
bodies are identical, then membership in the one 
is membership in the other. But the Jews were 
never members of the Church of Christ and were 
never "broken off" from it. They were "the natural 
branches " in the sense that they were members of 
the then existing Church, and were called Christ's 
" Own." " He came unto his own, and his own re- 
ceived him not." They were the people who would 
be naturally supposed to receive Christ and His Gos- 
pel, as they had been under special training for ages 
looking to that end. As they were His typical 
people it was to be expected they would become 
His real people. In that sense they were natural 
branches of a tame olive tree, one that had been 
cultivated. The Gentiles were wild, uncultivated, but 
still of the same genus. They were wild olive trees. The, 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 85 

Jews had the privilege of Church membership for- 
merly, the Gentiles had not. The Jews, because of 
their unbelief, were cut off from this privilege under 
the Gospel, and the Gentiles were grafted into the 
privilege. If the Church of Abraham had continued, 
the Jews would have still been members of that, as 
unbelief would not have excluded them from that 
communion. But the Abrahamic Church passed 
away with the other types and shadows. As faith 
was not a condition of membership in the Abrahamic 
Church, unbelief would not have cut anyone off from 
its communion. But as faith is an essential condi- 
tion of membership in the Church of Christ, unbelief 
prevents membership. As the Church of Christ is 
not the same institution as the one founded in the 
family of Abraham, it has been founded since that 
one was, as it is the antetype of the latter ; for that 
is first which is natural, and afterward that which is 
Spiritual. As Christ speaks of the founding of His 
Church as something in the future, it follows that it 
was not yet established when He thus spoke. But in 
Acts ii : 47 we are told that the Lord added to 
the Church daily, the saved. So the Church must 
have been founded some time between the time Christ 
spoke of building His church and the time this verse 
in Acts refers to. In verse 41 of the same chapter, 
we are told that three thousand souls were added, but 
it is not stated to what they were added. The trans- 
lators have supplied the words " unto them." No 
doubt these three thousand souls were added to the 



1 86 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Church. The Church of Christ was in existence, 
then, on the day of Pentecost. We do not read of 
its being in existence before that; and as the first 
baptism of the Holy Spirit took place on that day, 
and it is by this one Spirit that all are baptized into 
the one body, the Church must have been founded at 
that precise time. Having ascertained, then, that the 
Church of Christ, as an institution, is distinct from 
the Jewish Church, and that it was founded at Pente- 
cost in the city of Jerusalem, we shall proceed to in- 
quire as to the characteristics of this Church, as to 
its membership, organization, initiation, means of 
recognition, etc. 

i . We will consider its membership — who com- 
pose it. We are told in the Scripture already quoted, 
that the Lord added to the Church the saved. In 
the authorized version the words are " such as should 
be saved." But that is not what the Evangelist wrote. 
The original is "tous sozomenous," which Dr. Adam 
Clarke translates " Those who were saved." Liter- 
ally it is "the saved ones." And the Doctor adds 
"The Church of Christ was made up of saints ; sinners 
were not permitted to incorporate themselves with it." 
It is plain, then, that in the beginning the Church was 
composed of saints only, those who were saved from 
their sins. It is sometimes said in apology for an 
impure Church, that even among the twelve Apostles 
there was one devil. Yes, and one who denied his 
Lord with curses, and a number who, through cow- 
ardice, forsook their Lord and Master and ran away 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 87 

from danger. None of them was converted, none of 
them in the Church of Christ. Now as it is plain 
that none but saved persons were in the Church orig- 
inally, is it the Lord's design that this state of purity 
should continue to the end? We are told that the 
Church is to be presented to Christ as a chaste virgin ; 
that it is to be without "spot or wrinkle or any such 
thing, but that it should be Holy and without blem- 
ish." (Eph. v.27.) We here see what the Church 
was in the beginning and what it is to be in the end. 
If it is holy in the beginning and is to be spotless in 
the end, it certainly must continue in the same con- 
dition all the time, or be reformed before the end, if 
it falls from this condition of purity. But would a 
fallen Church, reformed, answer the description? Is 
a reformed fallen woman a virgin? Christ's bride 
must be a virgin. In his first letter to the Corin- 
thians the Apostle Paul gives the Church to understand 
that they must not fellowship sinners. That if a 
man was called a brother who was a fornicator, or 
covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, 
or an extortioner, they were not to eat with him. 
And the reason he gives why they should not fellow- 
ship sinners is, " Know ye not that a little leaven 
leaveneth the whole lump?" If they continued in 
fellowship with sin, they would all become defiled. 
Just as certainly as a little leaven will infallibly leaven 
the whole lump with which it is kept in contact, so 
certainly will one sinner kept in fellowship defile a 
whole Church. If Satan could get one sinner into 



1 88 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

the Church and keep him there, he would prevail 
against it to its destruction. Any professed Church 
which knowingly and willingly fellowships sinners, 
gives unmistakable evidence of being a fallen Church, 
if it ever was a true Church. But, says one, How are 
sinners to be kept out of the Church ? I might ask in 
reply, How are they to get into it? We are told that 
the Lord added the saved to the Church. Does he ever 
add any unsaved to the Church ? Certainly not. Can 
anyone else add an unsaved man to the Church ? I see 
no way that he can do so. God "hath set the members 
in the body as it hath pleased him." (I. Cor. xii : 18.) 
This is spoken of the natural body to illustrate 
Christ's Spiritual body, and in verse 27 we read, 
" Now ye are the body of Christ and members in par- 
ticular." We learn that the Lord sets the members 
in the body; He places them there and gives each 
one his proper place. Again it is only by the bap- 
tism of the Spirit that men get into the body of 
Christ. As the Lord has retained that power in His 
own hands and has delegated it to no one, no person 
can get into that body without God's approval. But 
may not a sinner be fellowshiped by Christians, 
through mistake? No doubt of it, particularly a sin- 
ner who is himself deceived into believing himself 
a Christian. But to be received by Christians, 
does not constitute a man a member of Christ's 
Church. But while men's judgments are fallible and 
they can be imposed upon, God has promised His 
Spirit to dwell with the Church forever ; and when 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 189 

His Spirit has free course, such cases will be searched 
out. I do not think a designing hypocrite can im- 
pose himself upon the real people of God. As God 
is interested in the purity of His people, He will ex- 
pose and uncover such base pretenders. The mem- 
bers of Christ's Church have great discernment of 
spirit, not to say discernment of spirits. The holy 
anointing teacheth them. If they cannot be imposed 
upon by false teachers, which Christ declares to be 
the fact, why should they be by any other false pre- 
tender. Jesus says His sheep know His voice and 
they follow Him, and a stranger they will not follow 
but will flee from him. He further declares that He 
knows His sheep and they know Him. Salvation 
makes people very sensitive to the spirit of those 
around them. It makes men quick to recognize a 
kindred spirit. And if the people of God keep under 
His direction and give His Spirit free course, they 
will be preserved from unholy fellowship. But if 
they neglect or refuse to do this, they will become 
the prey of the enemy. While it is true, then, that 
the real Church may, through ignorance, fellowship 
some unworthy persons and, which is less likely, re- 
fuse to fellowship some worthy of recognition, they 
always do so at their peril, and are expressly ex- 
horted to look diligently lest any man fail of the 
grace of God ; lest any root of bitterness springing 
up trouble them and thereby many be defiled. So 
while the Church itself is always pure, it is the con- 
stant endeavor of God's people to have the bounds 



I90 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

of their fellowship coincide with the limits of the 
Church. They well know the danger of doing other- 
wise. To voluntarily receive sin is to voluntarily re- 
ject Christ. It is the repetition of the old choice of 
Barabbas instead of Christ. The Church of Christ 
then is composed of saved persons alone ; of those 
who have received the washing of regeneration even 
the renewing of the Holy Ghost. The roll of mem- 
bership is kept in Heaven. We are told that we are 
not come to a tangible mountain, but "We are come 
unto Mount Zion even unto the city of the living 
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable 
company of angels, to the general assembly and 
church of the first-born which are written in heaven." 
(Heb. xii : 22, 23.) No one has any authority to keep 
the Church roll on earth. Jesus tells us that His 
Father is the husbandman who prunes the vines and 
does the cutting off where it is necessary. God's peo- 
ple can receive men as Christians, or reject them ac- 
cording to their judgment in the case ; but God alone 
can put men into His Church or exclude them from it. 
It is true that God confirms what the Church does, 
under the direction of the Holy Spirit. This seems 
to be included in the power of binding and loosing. 
If they should act under any other influence, it would 
not be confirmed in Heaven. But no power in earth 
or hell can keep a believer out of Christ's Church, 
and no power can put an unbeliever into it. To 
profess to open or shut the door of Christ's Church 
is blasphemy, for it is arrogating God's prerogative. 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 19I 

It is the work of the man of sin spoken of by the 
Apostle in II. Thess. ii : 3 , 4. The Lord declares 
that he opens and no man can shut, and he shuts 
and no man can open. It would be a great calamity 
to mankind if the Pope of Rome or any other eccle- 
siastical power had the power of opening and shutting 
the Church, as there is no salvation outside of the 
Church. We know not what God's uncovenanted 
mercies are, but all covenanted mercies are the heri- 
tage of those, alone, who are in the convenant. These 
constitute the Lord's people or Church. But some- 
one may suggest that it is acknowledged on all 
hands that these things are true of the invisible 
Church but not of the visible Church. I should 
like to know how anyone can know what is true 
of an invisible Church. It is safe to assert any- 
thing of an invisible object, for though we may 
not be believed we cannot be successfully contra- 
dicted. So when the Lord says His Church is holy, 
it is replied, yes, the invisible Church is holy. When 
He declares there is no schism in the body but that 
it is one, that too is ascribed to the invisible Church. 
Christ declares that the unity of His people is the 
proof of His Divine mission ; but when that unity 
characterizes an invisible people, and so cannot be 
seen, the proof cannot be very striking. The world 
will not be very much convinced by it. We are told 
about an invisible Church, but where is the proof of 
its existence? Where have we any mention of it in 
the Holy Scriptures, the rule of faith and practice? 



192 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

I have searched for some mention in vain. There is 
not one particle of proof of the existence of such a 
Church. We read of a Church which cannot be hid, 
but not of one which cannot be seen. The doctrine 
of an invisible Church had its origin in the imagina- 
tion of man, and ranks along with the doctrine of 
purgatory, in truth and authority. It has not so 
much foundation in Scripture as auricular confession, 
extreme unction, or priestly absolution. But it is not 
a popish superstition. Romanists do not teach it. 
It originated among Protestants. It is the Protestant 
reply to the Romanist charge of want of unity and 
Catholicity. They acknowledge that the visible 
Church is not one and not Catholic, but they affirm 
that the invisible Church is both, and who can deny 
it? But the Scriptures speak of but one Church and 
that is spoken of as being visible, "a city set on a 
hill which cannot be hid." A Church which is the "light 
of the world ; " which is composed of " living epistles, 
known and read of all men." The catechism informs 
us that the visible Church of Christ is a congregation 
of faithful men, among whom the pure Word of God 
is preached, and the sacraments duly administered 
according to Christ's ordinance. The definition is 
very good except that the latter clause is superfluous. 
Christ ordained no sacraments r The Church is a 
congregation of faithful men ; and this cannot exist 
without the pure word of God. But a congregation 
of faithful men would include no unbeliever, for such 
a one is not full of faith. But if one were to apply 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 93 

this definition to the congregations claiming to be 
Churches of Christ, he would find few who answered 
the description, according to their own confession. It 
would be difficult to find one that does. While by 
their acknowledgment they have hypocrites and 
sinners among them, the best of them confess to great 
unfaithfulness. But the Church is a congregation of 
faithful men, not unfaithful ones. We will find upon 
inquiry, that the great majority of professed Churches 
of Christ have no valid claim to the title, but are 
rather synagogues of Satan, since they have envy and 
strife and division, instead of love and unity, and 
where these are, St. James says, is confusion and 
every evil work. And he further affirms that their 
wisdom, or religion, cometh not from above, but is 
earthly, sensual, and devilish. Such organisms are 
visible, but not as Churches of Christ, but the con- 
trary. Christ's Church is visible, but not by virtue 
of anything of human invention. Not by reason of 
any carnal organization, or mutual compact. Not 
because of any charter by which it becomes a 
citizen of human government, capable of owning 
property, or of suing and being sued. A worldly 
corporation does not constitute the visibility of Christ's 
Church. It is the light of the Church that makes it visi- 
ble. Whatever constitutes its light, constitutes its visi- 
bility. A human organization does not constitute the 
light of the Church. If it did, a congregation of sin- 
ners thus organized would have as much light as a 
congregation of saints. "That which maketh manifest 

S. F. S.— 13 



194 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

is light." Jesus says to the Church, "Let your 
light so shine that they may see your good works, 
and glorify your Father in Heaven." It seems, then, 
that " good works " are the light of the Church, are 
that which makes it visible. But what are good 
works? Not the giving of alms, or praying, or fast- 
ing ; for these things are forbidden to be done in the 
sight of men, to be seen of them. But our good 
works are to be seen, that men may be brought to 
glorify our Father in Heaven. Our good works are 
of such a nature as to be convincing ; they prove us to 
be children of God. Hypocrites may fast, give alms, 
and make prayers. The Christian's good works 
are such that none but a Christian can perform them ; 
they are inimitable. They proceed from the Spirit 
of God dwelling in him, and so are called the 
fruit of the Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is 
love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, 
faith, meekness, temperance." (Gal. v 122-23.) Con- 
duct flowing from these holy tempers, and character- 
ized by them, shows the true Christian and convinces 
the gainsayers. These are the good works that are 
seen when the Church lets her light shine. They 
constitute the mind of Christ, the spirit of the Mas- 
ter. Wherever the Church of Christ is, these holy 
affections and tempers are manifest, and prove the 
genuineness of the claim. This is what makes the 
Church visible. Its holy living, its Divine comform- 
ity, its Heavenly Spirit. Where these are wanting, 
there may be form and ceremony, human organism, 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 95 

loud claims to orthodoxy, sound theology, anything 
else you please, but there is no visible Church of 
Christ. Each separate congregation is a local Church, 
but a component part of the general assembly and 
Church of the firstborn. They are separate only 
because they are in different localities. They are 
one in spirit and purpose. The number necessary 
to constitute a local Church is put by Christ as two 
or three ; for he says where two or three are gathered 
together in His name, He is there in their midst. 
This constitutes a Church ; for where Christ and two 
or more disciples are, there are the head and mem- 
bers. While the Lord is present with His people in- 
dividually, everywhere and always, yet He is specially 
present where two or three are gathered in His 
name. This is not only according to His prom- 
ise but according to their experience ; for they 
realize special manifestations of His presence at such 
times. "He hath made us to sit together in 
heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Eph. ii:6.) The 
surroundings may be poor and mean, the place un- 
consecrated by priestly office, but if Christ and His 
people are there, the place is Heavenly in conse- 
quence. It is for the time being a consecrated, a 
sacred place. Jesus consecrated a stable once by 
being born in it, and He can consecrate such a place 
again, by manifesting Himself to His people there. 
These are the only sacred places known to Christian- 
ity, those consecrated by the presence of Christ and 
His people ; and these are sacred only so long as 



I96 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

they continue there. No Jewish rites, no popish 
mummery, no baptism of "holy water," can conse- 
crate any place. 

The Church of Jesus Christ, being a Spiritual 
organism, can be brought into being by Spiritual 
agencies only. The first Church at Jerusalem was 
thus originated. When the one hundred and twenty 
in that upper room in Jerusalem were baptised with 
the Holy Ghost, they became a Church, the Church. 
They could not have organized the Church by any 
means of their own invention. If they had called a 
meeting and appointed a chairman, and passed a 
unanimous resolution to organize a Church, adopted 
a confession of faith, and prepared a discipline, there 
would still have been no Church made. They might 
have called it the Church of Christ, but it would not 
have been the Church of Christ. But when by the 
power of the Holy Spirit they were baptized into the 
one body, at once Christ had a Church there. It 
takes the same Divine power to make a Church, yet. 
If in any locality two or more persons are by the one 
Spirit baptized into the one body, they constitute the 
visible Church in that community, and nothing they 
can do can make them any more truly the Church 
of Christ. Nothing further is needed. We do not 
read that the Church at Jerusalem made any organi- 
zation further than was made at Pentecost. They 
appointed deacons when they saw the need of them, 
but they were no more a Church after that than they 
were before. The Church of Christ is a Divine 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 97 

organism, and can be produced only by Divine 
power. No man or body of men can any more make 
a Church than they can create a world. The pre- 
rogative of adding to or dividing from His Church, 
God has retained in His own hand. He uses men as 
instruments in this work, but the building is the 
Lord's. Paul may plant and Apollos may water, but 
God, alone, gives the increase. If anything is added, 
God adds it. It is by His baptism men are brought 
into the Church, and he has never delegated the 
power to administer that. The body of Christ is 
Divinely produced, it is also Divinely preserved. It 
is not only true that " Unless the Lord build the house 
they labor in vain who build it," but it is also true, 
"that unless the Lord keep the city the watchman 
waketh in vain." There is nothing more dear to God 
in this universe than His Church. He has purchased 
it at infinite cost. He has redeemed it with His own 
blood. He that toucheth it toucheth the apple of 
His eye. It is His jewel case where His gems are 
kept. His people are graven on the palms of His 
hands. The hairs of their heads are all numbered 
before Him. Everything concerning them is of 
interest to Him. The angel of the Lord encampeth 
round about them. The angelic hosts are minister- 
ing spirits to them. 

"Millions of bright cherubic bands 
Sent by the King of Kings, 
Delight to bear us in their hands 
And shield us with their wings. " 



198 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

As Abraham gave portions to his other children 
but made Isaac his heir, so God may give a portion 
to other of His creatures, but His people are heirs of 
all things. These things being true, God is infinitely 
interested in them; in their purity, their security, 
their fidelity, their victory. He so tempers them 
together that there may be no schism in his 
body. Men cannot do this. They cannot so or- 
ganize men together that divisions will be avoided. 
This can be done only by taking away freedom 
of thought, and the right of private judgment, or 
by uniting them in one spirit so that they freely 
speak the same things and are perfectly joined 
together in the same mind and the same judgment. 
It is sometimes asked, what holds the members of 
Christ's body together, if no human bonds are put 
around them ; if no external pressure is exerted to 
secure unity? What ignorance the question exposes. 
What holds any man's body together? Is it some 
power outside of him? We may not be able to ex- 
plain what holds the parts of a human body together ; 
but it is something within the body itself. We call 
it life or the life principle. So long as that exists in 
the body, it coheres and can only be separated by 
great force. If that is absent, cohesion loses its force, 
and dissolution sets in. Then the body can be kept 
together only by external pressure. The same is true 
of the Spiritual body of Christ, the Church. It is 
held together by a force within itself, and not by any 
external pressure, or force exerted from without. 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 99 

This power, or force, is brotherly love. This is the 
most powerful bond that exists. The Apostle calls 
it a perfect bond. He says, "Above all these things 
put on charity (love), which is a bond of perfectness." 
(Col. iii : 14.) Where this bond exists, no need is 
felt for any other. As it is a perfect bond, nothing 
can be added to it. To add any human device to this 
Divine love, would be more foolish than to bind the 
sturdy oaks with wisps of straw. This love of the 
brethren is produced in us by the love of God shed 
abroad in our hearts, and it cannot be lost while that 
love of God remains in us. To separate us from the 
love of God, is to separate us from the love of the 
brethren ; and " Who shall separate us from the love 
of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecu- 
tion, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?" 
This brotherly love is a new thing in the world, be- 
longing to the new dispensation. It is the new com- 
mandment given us by Christ. It is the test of 
discipleship. " By this shall all men know that ye 
are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." 
(John xiii : 35.) This love is a new factor in human 
society. Nothing like it was ever seen before the de- 
scent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It surpasses 
the love of David and Jonathan ; that was human, this 
is Divine. It unites those who have no natural affin- 
ity or predilection for each other, as well as those 
who have. It knits together the members of Christ's 
body here, and will continue to unite them forever; 
since love never faileth. Where this love exists, then, 



200 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

there must be unity. Unity can be destroyed only 
by the expulsion of love. Then the forces that make 
for dissolution will have the mastery, and the body 
will dissolve into its original elements. Love is the 
life principle of the body of Christ; it is dead with- 
out it. When that is wanting, it ought to fall to 
pieces ; anything else is unnatural. But the ancient 
Egyptians discovered a process by which the dead 
body might be made to retain its form, and the ten- 
dency to dissolution might be arrested. No good end 
was served by this process, however, but it has fur- 
nished the moderns with curiosities called mummies. 
This embalming process was effected by wrapping 
the body with bandages of linen cloth prepared in a 
manner now unknown. So the moderns have learned 
a process of embalming dead Churches by means of 
external bonds of union after the life of brotherly love 
has gone out of them. They may thus be kept above 
ground for centuries possibly, but they are too com- 
mon for curiosities, and are nothing but rubbish. 
They can serve no possible good end, unless it is to 
emphasize the difference between a dead Church and 
a living one. It is only when the life principle is ex- 
tinct that such unnatural means must be resorted to, 
to hold a body together, and preserve the unity of its 
component parts. On a living body these bonds 
would only serve to hamper and prevent freedom of 
action. Their tendency would be to weaken and de- 
stroy. Thus external bonds are not only useless but 
positively injurious. They are marks of infidelity, as 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 201 

they show want of confidence in God's means of pro- 
ducing and preserving unity. We conclude, then, that 
mutual love in the membership, is the source of unity 
in the body of Christ, and not anything external to it. 
Much more might profitably be said on this point, 
did the limits of a sermon permit. 

The government of the Church of Christ is another 
subject of controversy, and it is generally claimed 
among Protestants that no form of government was 
instituted for the Church, but that it is left to the re- 
quirements of time and place to determine this mat- 
ter. That is a most extraordinary fact, if it is a fact. 
It certainly taxes credulity to believe that Christ 
should have provided no form of government for His 
kingdom on earth ; for His Church which He has 
bought with His own blood. That He should leave the 
government of His own body to the caprice of men. 
It is more easy to credit the claim of the Papists than 
such a theory. It is more easy to believe that he con- 
fided the government of his Church to Peter and his 
successors than that He provided no government at all. 
So various forms of government have been proposed, 
patterned after civil governments. There is govern- 
ment by the Pope, or absolute monarchy ; Episco- 
pal government, limited monarchy ; Presbyterian, or 
representative government; and Congregational, or 
pure democracy. These specific forms are variously 
combined by different sects. The Pope of Rome 
claims to be Christ's vicar on earth, and if he could 
establish his claim, we would have a theocratic 



202 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

government, to which all loyal subjects would feel 
bound to submit. The bishops also claim Divine au- 
thority to rule. The other forms derive their authority 
from the body governed. In the Papal and Episcopal 
forms, Christ is supposed to govern His Church by 
agents or viceroys Divinely appointed. In the other 
forms the body is supposed to govern itself. Of 
course they speak of Christ as the great Head of the 
Church, but as the governing power is in the body, 
He can be nothing more than a figurehead, having 
no authority or power. If the power to "change 
times and laws" is vested in the general conference or 
general assembly, or general synod, and Christ, the 
supposed Head, has not even a veto power, it is difficult 
to see where His Headship lies. It seems to be a ful- 
fillment of the prophecy recorded in Isaiah iv : I, "In 
that day seven women shall take hold of one man 
saying, We will eat our own bread and wear our own 
apparel ; only let us be called by thy name to take 
away our reproach." As to those who claim to be 
Christ's vicars, let them establish the claim and we 
will submit to their authority. There seems to be no 
authority for the claim, but tradition and presump- 
tion. Christ claims to be the head of His own body, 
and of course the governing power and authority. As 
He is not here personally, He has a viceregent, but 
this is not the Pope of Rome, nor the bishops, 
Roman or Anglican, but the Holy Spirit. Christ 
governs the Church by His Spirit, the Comforter, the 
Paraclete. Each member is in direct connection and 



THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 203 

correspondence with the head of the body. And 
though some are appointed leaders and shepherds, 
they have no authority except as it is recognized 
that they speak as oracles of God. Unless Christ is 
recognized as speaking through these teachers by 
His Spirit, their words have no authority. Thus 
Christ, the head, governs and guides his own body, 
and the government of the Church is a true theoc- 
racy. Without this Divine guidance and control, there 
could be no security, and the gates of Hades might 
easily prevail against it. It is this Divine inspiration 
that makes the Church infallible and invincible. 
Since the Church of Christ is a theocracy, all author- 
ity in the Church comes directly from Christ. He 
places the members in the body as it pleases Him. 
As He called the first ministers, He still calls them; 
and they have no authority to run until He sends 
them. When men without express direction of the 
Holy Spirit say to their fellows, Take thou authority 
to preach the gospel, they are arrogating to them- 
selves God's prerogative and show themselves to be 
apostates. 

The Church has no authority to commission min- 
isters. They are Christ's ambassadors and must get 
their commission from Him, and to Him, alone, they 
are responsible. The Church must recognize Christ's 
ambassadors by their fruits. If they do not show the 
proper credentials, they are to be rejected as impos- 
tors. It is their imperative duty to see that those who 
come to them as ambassadors for Christ are properly 



204 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

accredited. The Lord gives his ministers credentials 
easily recognized by Spiritual men. The Church at 
Ephesus was commended for trying them who said 
they were Apostles, and finding them liars. Gospel 
ministers are accredited from Christ, and recognized 
and received by the Church, and to reject one so ac- 
credited is, in effect, to reject Christ who sends him. 
Many of these truths are theoretically acknowledged 
by those sects called evangelical, but they are practi- 
cally ignored and set aside by their human ecclesias- 
ticism. They find them impracticable, and they 
certainly are so, where the Holy Spirit does not lead 
and govern. But where the answer to Wesley's peti- 
tion is realized, 

" Lead and actuate and guide, 
Divers gifts to each divide;" 

there these truths are found to be perfectly practi- 
cable. 

This Spiritual Divine organism is the Holy Catho- 
lic Church of Jesus Christ. It is Holy because each 
member of it is Holy. It is Catholic, because it in- 
cludes all true believers. It is the Church because it 
is chosen out of the world, separated from it in 
spirit. It is "elect according to the foreknowledge 
of God the Father, through sanctification of the 
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of 
Jesus Christ." It is the Church- of Christ because he 
founded it, builds it, purifies and cleanses it, protects 
and defends it, calls it His bride and will finally 
glorify it. Within its walls is certain salvation, with- 






THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 205 

out it is danger, condemnation, ruin. It is not your 
Church nor my Church, but Christ's Church. Your 
Church may be nearest right, but Christ's Church is 
right. Nearest right, is the best executed counter- 
feit. It is the same Church on earth and in paradise. 

" One company we dwell in him — 
One church above, beneath." 

Though in obscurity now, her claims disallowed, 
her pretensions mocked at, persecuted, hated of men, 
for Christ's sake, a false pretender taking her place 
in the public recognition ; she shall yet come up out 
of the wilderness, leaning on the arm of her beloved, 
fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an 
army with banners. 



THE OFFICE OF PREACHING 



"It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching 
to save them that believe." — I. Cor. i: 21, 

A KNOWLEDGE of God has been recognized as a 
* * very important attainment by thinking men, in 
all ages. In consequence, the philosophers, the wise 
men among all nations, have endeavored after this 
knowledge. Some have striven to gain a knowledge 
of God through contemplation of His works. This 
may give us some conception of His power and wis- 
dom, and a consequent sense of man's comparative 
insignificance, as expressed by the Psalmist: ''When 
I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the 
moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained, Lord 
what is man that Thou are mindful of him, or the son 
of man that Thou visitest him." But such contem- 
plation and study can give us a knowledge of God's 
natural attributes only, and leave us still in ignorance 
of His moral character. But it is His moral nature 
that we are most interested in. Since we learn that 
He is all-powerful, we are interested to know how He 
will use that power, whether for our good or for our 
harm. Is that power directed by benevolence, or 
malevolence, or is He totally indifferent toward His 
creatures? The works' of nature cannot answer this 
(206) 



THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 207 

question. Others sought by quiet contemplation and 
introspection to learn something of God. They hoped 
by these means some revelation of God would be made 
to their souls. They hoped by means of their philo- 
sophical inquiries, and their prying into the nature of 
things, to arrive at the first cause of all things. But 
all their efforts were vain and abortive. The world 
by wisdom knew not God. They did not hope to 
gain a knowledge of God that would be for all hu- 
manity, but supposed that it would be for the learned 
and wise alone. The common people, the mass of 
humanity, were doomed to perpetual ignorance of 
God in their conception of things. Such knowledge 
was too high for the ignorant masses. But though 
these philosophers did not find out God, their knowl- 
edge puffed them up and caused them to view with 
contempt the remainder of mankind. Pagan super- 
stitions were good enough for the vulgar, though they 
discarded many of these superstitions, themselves. 
They could not conceive that anything worthy of 
their consideration could come from any source out- 
side of their schools of philosophy, and least of all 
from poor illiterate men. This pride of opinion made 
them inimical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. " The 
Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wis- 
dom," wrote the Apostle Paul, " but we preach Christ 
crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the 
Greeks, foolishness." No wonder that those who im- 
agined that they had a monopoly of all the wisdom 
there was, should regard as the merest folly that 



208 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Gospel which offered a knowledge of God to all, to the 
most ignorant and illiterate. God's plan of saving 
men by means of a preached Gospel was an absurd- 
ity to them. For this reason it is called "the foolish- 
ness of preaching." But "the foolishness of God is 
wiser than men." Another reason for which it may 
be called the foolishness of preaching is, that the ap- 
parent means are so inadequate to the end proposed. 
When we consider that men are dead to Spiritual 
realities, without any power to apprehend them, it 
would seem folly to speak to them of such things. It 
is like the prophet preaching to the valley of dry 
bones. How foolish it would seem to see a man ad- 
dressing himself to a mass of scattered skeletons, that 
had been for years exposed to the action of the ele- 
ments. What effect could His voice have upon such a 
lifeless audience? Sinners are as dead to Spiritual 
things as these bones were to natural things. They 
have no sight, and to give them light is futile, unless 
they can be made to see. What would the loftiest 
eloquence, the greatest power of persuasion, the most 
consummate logical powers, avail a man in a cemetery, 
addressing the sleepers there? No more will they 
avail in Gospel work, unless some power arouses men 
from the death of sin, that they may hear and feel 
Spiritual truth. If the word preached, then, has no 
element of power in it, except what is derived from 
the natural gifts of the speaker, men will sleep on in- 
sensible to the awful or glorious truths they hear, 
unawakened, unsaved. 



THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 209 

The apparent means, preaching, seems totally 
inadequate to the end proposed — to awaken and 
save sinners. For this reason, also, then, it may be 
termed "the foolishness of preaching." But the 
apparent means is not the only means used. More 
is taking place than the natural senses recognize. 
For the Gospel is not in word only, but in power, and 
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. The 
human element is only the instrument through which 
Divine power acts ; and unless God does act through 
the instrument, nothing good can be accomplished. 
The real Gospel is the power of God. The human 
element is only the instrument through which Divine 
power is brought into contact with the souls of 
men. God could communicate Himself to men with- 
out the interposition of this human instrumen- 
tality, but He has not seen fit to do so. He has 
seen fit to use men in the work of saving their fel- 
lowmen. No doubt this is better for the sinner 
needing to be saved, as well as for the man who is 
privileged to be a coworker with God. But some- 
how the soul of the sinner must come into contact 
with Divine power, or its sleep will be eternal. Wis- 
dom and Love has chosen the preached Gospel as 
His means of communication with the souls of lost 
men. He speaks through His ministers, His am- 
bassadors, and He says to them : " He that heareth 
you heareth Me." If to hear Christ's ministers is to 
hear Him, and to reject them is to reject Him, it is 
all-important that men should be able to know 

S. F. S.— 14 



2IO SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Christ's ambassadors. We are told that Satan, him- 
self, is transformed into an angel of light, and that 
His ministers likewise appear as ministers of Christ. 
We are also admonished to beware of false prophets 
who come to us in sheep's clothing, though inwardly 
they are ravening wolves. How are the false to be 
distinguished from the true? While there are several 
marks by which they are to be distinguished, we 
shall not speak of them in detail, but remark that 
God's ministers cojne accredited from Him. He calls 
them, He qualifies them, He commissions them, and 
they always carry their commissions with them. The 
fruits of their labors are to be taken as the proof of 
their Divine commission. If they really bring men 
from sin to holiness, from the power of Satan unto 
God, they are Divinely commissioned. No man can 
so preach as to save a soul unless he be sent of God. 
For unless God speaks through him, nothing can be 
done ; and God will work only with those whom He 
has sent. However wise or reputable a man may be, 
he has no authority to speak for the government at a 
foreign court, unless the government has sent him. 
So no man can speak for God with authority, unless 
God sends him. Christ gives every one of His am- 
bassadors such qualifications that those to whom he 
is sent may be assured that Christ sends him. To 
send an ambassador without credentials such as 
could be easily recognized by those to whom he is 
sent, would be folly. Christ is not guilty of this folly. 
His ministers commend themselves to every man's 



THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 211 

conscience in the sight of God. Men feel that God 
speaks through His ministers to their consciences, and 
they recognize the word He speaks to be a discerner 
of the thoughts and intents of their hearts. As men 
felt concerning the Master, that He taught with 
authority, so they feel concerning those whom the 
Master sends. They cannot deny the power and 
authority of his preaching. They may refuse to 
acknowledge it, but they feel, as they hear one of 
Christ's ministers, that God speaks to them. I£ 
they do not feel this, they have no proof of His 
commission from God. When God sent Moses to 
deliver the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, he 
gave him credentials that would convince them that 
God sent him. When Christ sent out the seventy 
evangelists to preach to the lost sheep of the house 
of Israel, he gave them as credentials, power to work 
miracles. When Christ sent the Apostles after Pen- 
tecost, he gave them a power still- greater ; power to 
rouse dead souls to life, to open the eyes of their 
understanding, and to turn them from Satan unto 
God. He did not take away the power to work 
miracles upon the bodies of men, but gave them the 
greater power to heal their souls, according to His 
promise in John xiv:i2, "He that believeth on me, 
the works that I do shall he do also, and greater 
works than these shall he do ; because I go to the 
Father." The power to heal the body is far inferior 
to the power to heal the soul. And the man who is 
God's instrument in performing the greater work is 



212 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

able to do the smaller when God pleases to so use 
him. The power to heal the body is not the test of 
a Gospel commission, as men did that who were not 
yet qualified to preach the Gospel. But the man 
who preaches the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent 
down from Heaven, gives proof of a Gospel commis- 
sion. It is true that the Egyptian magicians imi- 
tated Moses' credentials for a short time, but they 
soon gave proof of their folly. So the credentials of 
a Gospel minister are imitated, and false teachers 
claim to be under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; 
but their claims are easily discredited. Men under 
their labors are not really raised from the death of 
sin to a life of holiness. For a short time they are 
galvanized into a semblance of life, but this appear- 
ance is brief and spasmodic. God has declared that 
the folly of these imitators shall be manifest to all 
men as was that of Jannes and Jambres. And this 
prophecy seems to be fulfilled at the present time, as 
the people in general have lost confidence in this 
false work, and do not expect honesty in business 
transactions, nor right conduct in any particular, as a 
result of such work. They have learned that it has 
very little influence upon the life of those who are 
the subjects of it. I think it can be safely said that 
a profession of conversion under the prevalent phase 
of Christianity inspires little or no confidence in the 
honesty or probity of the professor. Thus, the folly 
of superficial religion has been made manifest unto 
all men. But when men become the subjects of 



THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 213 

saving grace through the preaching of a true Gospel, 
men expect a life in accordance thereto, and are 
ready to condemn any departure from the letter or 
Spirit of the Gospel, in those who are thus saved. 
They have a right to expect holy living from God's 
children. A preached Gospel, then, is God's chosen 
means of saving men. Foolish as it seemed to the 
Greeks, and little as it is esteemed at the present 
day, it is still God's plan. Still, "Faith cometh by 
hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Still it is 
true, " How shall they believe on Him of whom they 
have not heard ; and how shall they hear without a 
preacher ; and how shall he preach, except he be 
sent?" Nothing can take the place of the preached 
word ; nothing can be successfully substituted for it. 
Of course a printed Gospel is much cheaper than a 
preached Gospel, and though it may be an auxiliary, 
it cannot supply its place. When the Gospel was first 
preached, nothing else was needed to bring men to 
salvation. Nor is anything more needed now. But men 
have lost faith in the power of the Gospel, and feel 
the need of something more to get men saved. 
It is most true that a Gospel, which is in word only, 
will fail to do the work desired ; and because the 
Gospel generally preached, is dead and formal, empty 
of the Spirit, men have invented other means to give 
effect to it. Since it has no Divine power in it, the 
power of human sympathy and human persuasion is 
seized upon to supply the lack of the drawing of the 
Father. Jesus says "No man can come to me 



214 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

except my Father which hath sent me draw Him." 
If God draw a man by the influence of His Spirit, he 
needs no other persuasion, and if God do not draw 
him, all the saints and angels cannot bring him to 
salvation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is always ac- 
companied by God's drawings, and by these the sin- 
ner is sweetly drawn away from sin and self-will, 
toward holiness and Heaven. The Gospel that de- 
pends on any other influence for success, is a false 
Gospel and dangerous to the souls of men. Men are 
compelled to come in, not by physical force, or the 
influence of friendship, but by the power of the truth 
alone. The man who has influence over another in 
natural or temporal matters can do no more for that 
person's salvation, than one who has no worldly in- 
fluence can do. We often hear professed ministers 
of the Gospel urge those under their pastoral care to 
endeavor to persuade their friends to become reli- 
gious. They are told that there is no one but has an 
influence over some other person ; and that it is 
their duty to use that influence in bringing others 
to Christ. The religious teacher who gives such 
advice, gives evidence of an entire ignorance 
of the Gospel of Christ. That is good advice 
in politics or in any worldly matter, but is value- 
less and wholly mistaken in Spiritual affairs. We . 
may, and should, so live before our friends and 
acquaintances as to convince them of the reality of 
God's work and the truth of the Gospel, but we can 
go no farther in the affair. It then becomes a mat- 



THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 215 

ter between their souls and God. No exhortation, 
no persuasion of ours, can bring them to Christ. The 
Father must draw them, if they come at all. Much 
of the religious labor of the day is not only useless, 
but a positive hindrance to God's work. It is the re- 
sult of ignorance and unbelief. Religious laborers 
are not satisfied to go out and preach the Gospel to 
men and leave the results with God and the people. 
They are not willing, like the husbandman, to have 
long patience and wait for the early and latter rains. 
They must see immediate results of their labor. They 
want a birth before there is a real begetting. So 
other influences are set at work to insure results at 
once, s Excitement must be produced somehow, not 
much matter how; the end seems to sanctify the 
means in their eyes. Well, the excitement is pro- 
duced, the revival is " got up," souls are per- 
suaded that they are converted, and the work 
runs "like fire in dry stubble," one catching it 
from another, until the whole community is some- 
times involved. The revival becomes epidemic; 
it rages for a time, as if it never would cease. But 
it reaches its maximum and begins to decline, and it 
is seen to wane as surely and swiftly as it waxed, un- 
til nothing but the ashes and other residuum is left. 
The community resumes its usual quiet state, things 
are seen to be in the same condition as before. Now 
what has been accomplished ? A few have been per- 
manently deceived ; the majority soon find them- 
selves where they were before. The whole affair was 



2l6 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

the result of natural causes alone, and God's Spirit 
had nothing to do with it. It was a religious de- 
bauch, in which the .whole community was, for a 
while, more or less intoxicated, but they have sobered 
off again. It was a diseased condition of the natural 
religious feelings and sympathies, which became epi- 
demic, and raged for a while at fever heat, and then 
cooled off and finally reached a normal state again. 
Sometimes these epidemics affect only small com- 
munities. This is the case generally. Sometimes 
whole regions or states are affected, as was the case 
of the Flagellants in Italy. 

Sometimes even numerous countries are affected 
at once, as in the case of the Crusades in Europe. 
Disease is contagious and sometimes becomes epi- 
demic. Health is never either the one or the other. 
When the brother prays that the revival may run 
like fire in dry stubble, he shows that his conception 
of the nature of the work is precise and true. God's 
work never runs that way; Christ's religion is not 
contagious ; one person never catches it from another. 
Each one is saved independent of any other one. 
Each person gets his fire direct from Heaven. The 
reason why persons who desire to produce such re- 
sults do not depend on the Gospel alone, is because 
it will never produce such results. They must wait 
for the results of the Gospel. I do not mean to say 
that the results may not be immediate, but they are 
not usually so. Even the work at Pentecost was the 
result of years of preparatory labor. We may see 



THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 217 

immediate results of our labor in preaching the Gos- 
pel, not only in the conviction of sinners, but some- 
times in their genuine conversion to God. But we 
are not to endeavor to hurry the work. We must 
tell men the truth and then wait for results. A false 
Gospel must have immediate results or none at all. 
Not so with the real Gospel. Its effects are lasting. 
It is true that upon some hearers it makes no impres- 
sion at all. There are some to whom the Gospel is hid- 
den. " If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are 
lost ; in whom the god of this world hath blinded the 
minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glori- 
ous Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should 
shine unto them." Others are so nearly blinded by the 
same means that they see but faintly, but when the 
voice of God is heard, it is not easily forgotten. Men 
will often retain the impression made by one Gospel 
sermon for years. It is common to go back to the 
vicinity where the Gospel has been preached months 
previously, and find the impression deepened by 
time, and more interest manifested than at the time 
the Gospel was heard. If God awakens a sinner he 
will never let him rest until he either surrenders or 
resists unto his own undoing. It is intimated in 
God's word that we have but one awakening. If we 
relapse into insensibility again we are lost. This can 
only be done by grieving God's Spirit entirely away. 
If God, who has once awakened us, lets us alone, it 
is because there is no hope for our salvation. The 
Gospel is the power of God unto salvation ; and if it 



2l8 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

fails to save us, there is no further or more powerful 
means in reserve. To so sin against the Holy Spirit 
that He ceases striving with us, is the sin beyond 
forgiveness ; since it is the sin which cannot be re- 
pented of. Nothing that man can do can deepen the 
impression made by the truth, since that impression is 
made by Divine power. As I have heard it remarked 
in homely phrase, pushing the gun will not make it 
shoot the harder. If we have faith in God and in 
His appointed means for saving sinners, we will be 
satisfied to use the means and rest contented with 
that. 

As we have already intimated, it is absolutely 
necessary that the preacher should be sent of God. 
It is just as necessary now as it ever has been. The 
fact, if it be a fact, that the Gospel is prevalent, does 
not change the situation. Though all the present 
generation were saved, the next would be just as 
dead in sin, and would be in need of the same means 
for their awakening as any generation ever was. So 
the minister would need to be sent of God, as much 
as did the first ministers. " How shall they preach 
except they be sent?" is just as pertinent a question 
now as when it was first asked. And here I would 
notice a common error : the confounding of a call 
from God with a commission from him. They are 
not by any means the same. It is one thing to be 
called and quite another thing to be sent. Moses 
seems to have been mistaken in this thing, supposing 
that God's call was sufficient without anything 



THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 2IO, 

further. But in his feeble attempt to deliver his 
brethren, he found that they did not recognize his 
call, and would not listen to his counsel. The result 
was that he fled in fear from Egypt and waited forty 
years after he felt God's call, until Jehovah said at 
the burning bush, " Come, I will send thee to deliver 
my people." When he was sent of God his mission 
was successful, and both the Israelites and the Egyp- 
tians were convinced of his Divine commission. No 
doubt many are called to preach the Gospel who are 
never sent because they never become qualified. 
Christ called his Apostles several years before he 
sent them to preach the everlasting Gospel, and if 
they had not waited for the baptism of the Holy 
Spirit they would never have been sent. They were 
commanded to tarry until they were endued with 
power from on high. Without that they could have 
done nothing for God or man. No more can any man 
preach the Gospel now, unless endued with the same 
power. But the majority of teachers, even if they 
have a call, run before they are qualified and sent. It 
may be true of preachers as well as others, that many 
are called but few chosen. It is not enough, then, to 
have a vocation from God, the Gospel preacher must 
have a commission also. God calls men who are not 
qualified, but he never sends a man until he has 
qualified him for the work. If he fails to become 
qualified, he never receives his commission. It would 
be well for those who feel a call to be a messenger for 
God, to apply to themselves Joab's question to 



220 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Ahimaaz (II. Sam. xviii:22), " Wherefore wilt thou 
run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?" 
Nevertheless he ran so swiftly as to outrun the quali- 
fied herald, but when he reached the presence of 
King David, he could give him no information of the 
battle. David asked, " Is the young man Absalom 
safe?" His answer was "I saw a great tumult but I 
knew not what it was." He was either ignorant of 
what David wished to hear about, or was afraid to 
tell him the truth, because he saw it would not be 
welcome news. How many such messengers there 
are at the present day : either ignorant of the truth 
or afraid to tell it. Their manner of preaching seems 
to be an answer to the question of the Apostle, " How 
shall he preach except he be sent?" Unless men are 
sent of God, they may preach so as to confuse and 
deceive souls but not so as to save them. 

The sects who profess to believe in a Divine call 
to the ministry, allow God to call men but they arro- 
gate to themselves the authority to commission them. 
But God has never delegated such authority to any 
man, or body of men. He calls, He qualifies, He 
sends out His ambassadors, and furnishes them with 
their credentials sufficient to accredit them to those 
to whom they are sent. All man can do in the 
matter is to recognize God's work and receive His 
ministers in his name. No human call, no ecclesias- 
tical commission, no imposition of priestly hands, 
either of presbyter or bishop, can supply the place 
of Christ's work. And where vocation and com- 



THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 221 

mission are received from Christ, no other is needed. 
They need no human indorsement. Very probably 
the persons referred to by the Apostle Paul as need- 
ing epistles of commendation, were the false teachers 
against whom he contended. He needed none be- 
cause he had living epistles of commendation, known 
and read of all men." 

The work of preaching the everlasting Gospel is 
the most solemn and the most exalted of all human 
employments. No other work can compare with it. 
All other callings deal with the temporal interests of 
men, and these can be of importance but during this 
brief life. The Gospel minister deals with eternal 
interests. And when all temporal interests shall have 
been swallowed up in the final cataclysm, the signifi- 
cance of his work will but begin to be developed. 
The man who would lightly or hastily take upon 
himself this office, has no conception of its responsi- 
bilities. To stand as a mouthpiece for God, to say 
what He says, nothing more or less ; to stand as a 
watchman, responsible for the souls of those under 
His care, knowing that a failure to warn them of 
danger, is to have their blood required at His hand ; 
to be intrusted with the delicate task of providing a 
suitable and acceptable bride for the Lord Jesus, 
pure and spotless : this is a task at once of the great- 
est weight and the greatest glory. Well may the 
Apostle to the Gentiles exclaim: "Who is sufficient 
for these things?" No one, then, who understands 
the nature of the ministerial office, and who appreciates 



222 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

its grave responsibilities, will volunteer for the 
work. The woe must be upon him, from which he 
cannot escape, and the love of Christ must constrain 
him, before he will undertake, the awful yet glorious 
task. No desire for worldly honor, no love of filthy 
lucre, no craving for power or authority, can have 
any place in the heart of the man who is fitted for 
this sacred calling. But his sufficiency is of God 
who alone can make a feeble man an able minister of 
the New Testament. Yet though the responsibilities 
are so transcendent, the reward is correspondingly 
glorious. "They that be wise shall shine as the 
brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many 
to righteousness, as stars forever and ever." When 
the chief Shepherd shall appear, they shall receive a 
crown of glory that fadeth not away. 

But the reward will be for faithfulness not for suc- 
cess, real or apparent. God's ministers must obey in- 
structions, whether men hear or forbear. They have 
nothing to do with results. Noah was probably the 
most successful preacher the world ever saw, though 
he could show but seven souls as the result of one 
hundred and twenty years' preaching; and these all 
in his own family. But his preaching condemned a 
world, and made him heir of righteousness by faith. 
Not one wotd of God is lost. Not one 'sermon 
preached in the Spirit is in vain. It accomplishes 
God's purpose in one way or another. It is a savor 
of life or death in them that believe and in them that 
perish. Go forth, then, in Jesus' name, thou herald 



THE OFFICE OF PREACHING. 223 

of the Cross, called and commissioned from Heaven. 
Let no danger deter thee, no labor discourage thee. 
Fear not them that kill the body only, but cannot 
harm thy soul. Let the trumpet give no uncertain 
sound. Keep back nothing that is profitable for men ; 
all Gospel truth is profitable. Stop not to number 
thy foes, for God Almighty arms thee. Cry aloud 
and spare not ; lift up thy voice like a trumpet. En- 
dure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 
Endure the cross and despise the shame. Count 
nothing dear unto thyself so that thou mayest finish 
thy course with joy. Fight the good fight and keep 
the faith. In all things be an ensample to the flock. 
And when thy triumphant Master shall appear, He 
will pronounce, "Well done: thou hast been faithful 
over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many 
things ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 



TEMPTATION 



"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation." 

— James 1 : 12. 

T'HE Scripture account of the creation and fall of 
* man suggests many problems, the solution 
of which has taxed the ingenuity of learned men in 
all ages. Some of these problems have never been 
satisfactorily solved, and it is probable that a knowl- 
edge of them is included among the secret things 
which belong to the Lord. Others may be compre- 
hended by man even in this partial state of knowl- 
edge. One of the questions that excites human 
curiosity is, Why did the Lord subject innocent 
and inexperienced man to the temptations of a wily 
and malicious adversary? The result was likely to 
be disastrous to man. While the result which fol- 
lowed was not inevitable, it was probable. We 
cannot believe that this result was unknown to that 
God Who knoweth the end from the beginning. It 
could not have been a Divine experiment, the result 
of which was conjectural. Such a supposition dis- 
honors God. Taking it for granted, then, that 
Omniscience perfectly foresaw all that followed, He 
must have had a wise design in it all. And as God 
is love, the design must also have been benevolent, 
and contributory to the highest good of all con- 
(224) 



TEMPTATION. 225 

cerned. Since God foresaw that man would fall, He 
must have seen that the fall would be an advantage 
to the race as a whole, if not to each individual of 
the race. If this were not true, evidently the history 
of the race would have ended with the first offenders. 
But since He allowed them to live and propagate 
their species, Eternal Wisdom must have foreseen that 
it is better for the whole number of individuals con- 
stituting the human race to derive their existence 
from a fallen progenitor, than to stand for themselves 
individually as Adam did, or as the angels did, and 
do, stand. For God always chooses that which is 
best. The fall of man, then, was not an interruption 
of God's plan, and a defeat for Omnipotence, but was 
a part of the Divine plan from the beginning. The 
fall of the angels had shown that the absence of 
temptation does not insure security. I do not mean 
that it taught the Allwise a lesson, but it teaches us 
one. Probably they were not subjected to tempta- 
tion, because there was no tempter. Nevertheless, 
they fell, that is, some of them, and their fall was 
final. A knowledge of the fate of the fallen angels 
may have been sufficient to secure and insure the 
fidelity of those who remained obedient. But God 
in His infinite wisdom, delighting in the happiness 
and the praise of His creatures, saw fit to add to the 
number, by creating a new race. And since freedom 
from temptation and ignorance of evil did not afford 
security from falling into sin, and thus God's holy intel- 
ligences were forever in danger of losing their felicity ; 

S. F. S.— 15 



226 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

and since through Satan's defection, evil now existed, 
and a temper to evil was at hand, God determined to 
use him for the education of the new race which He 
was about to create. And though the result would 
no doubt be eternal wretchedness to some, yet prob- 
ably not a greater number than under the other plan ; 
and those who stood the test would be forever se- 
cure from any possibility of falling. In the case of 
the angels, the common understanding is, that one- 
third fell into irremediable destruction, and it is prob- 
able that, taking into consideration the vast propor- 
tion of the race who die in childhood, that more than 
two-thirds of the human race are finally saved, and 
secure beyond a peradventure. Thus, the added se- 
curity of the faithful is all clear gain. Their security 
would result from their experience of the danger of 
disobedience. And if, after experiencing the results 
of sin, having once been ruined by it, and securing 
deliverance from it through the mercy of God, they 
are enabled to resist temptation, and maintain their 
fidelity to God in a world where there is so much to 
seduce to evil, there is no possibility of their defec- 
tion in a world where everything encourages 
obedience. Not that they lose the freedom of choice, 
but it is inconceivable that they should ever again 
choose to disobey God. Temptation is intended, 
then, as a discipline to establish men in virtue. It is 
not an accident, but is a part of God's design, for the 
eternal good of mankind. It is significant, therefore, 
that the new race was planted in a world where Satan 



TEMPTATION. 227 

ruled. Milton in his ''Paradise Lost," represents Satan 
as being an intruder into this world. He represents 
him as escaping from Pandemonium and forcing his 
way up to earth because of his knowledge of God's pur- 
pose to people this planet with a new race. But I 
think this is a misconception. The probability is 
that Satan was here before man was. We are told 
that the angels who kept not their first estate were 
cast down to hell (Tartarus), and are reserved unto 
the judgment of the great day. We do not know 
certainly where Tartarus is, but as the fallen angels 
are said to be kept in chains of darkness, it would 
seem that their liberty is restrained to their prison 
house. And as we find them in this world, on this 
planet, it is reasonable to conclude that it is not 
necessary to look to any other world to find their 
abiding place. Demons seem to be at home here. 
In the language of Charles Wesley : 

" From thrones of glory driven — 
By flaming vengeance hurled — 
They throng the air and darken heaven 
And rule this lower world." 

It was in this lower world, inhabited by demons, 
full of hatred and malice against God and His creat- 
ures, that the Creator placed the first human pair. 
We do not know that demons inhabit any other 
world. How significant the fact, then, that God 
chose for man's abode the only world known to be 
peopled by demons. We do not know how long the first 
pair were preserved from temptation. So far as the 



228 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Scripture history gives information, they seem to 
have yielded to the first solicitation to evil, and to 
have fallen under the power of Satan. Thus, the cur- 
tain falls after the first act of the drama, upon man 
ruined and Evil triumphant. But the scene changes 
somewhat, as a promise of a deliverer is given. 
Hope for the race springs up. And though physical 
death and natural evil are introduced as new factors, 
and a cursed earth makes unremitting toil the por- 
tion of mankind, yet out of these forbidding acces- 
sories Eternal Wisdom designs to educe future good 
to the sufferers. These things are necessary to pre- 
vent fallen debased man from becoming completely 
wedded to this present state. The earthly, sensual 
life must be made hard and disappointing, if earthly 
minded men are ever to be detached from it. 

The Lord now begins a revelation of Himself to 
man, and gives him some knowledge of His will and 
of man's duty to Him. In doing God's will, man was 
continually beset by temptation to disobedience, and 
thus began to learn the lesson of preferring God's will 
to his own. But Satan's dominion over mankind was 
so great, and the power of temptation so strong, that 
disobedience was the rule, and obedience the excep- 
tion. Yet Enoch walked with God shortly after the 
fall, and had the testimony that he pleased God. And 
all along from righteous Abel down to the time of 
the Advent of Christ, there were those who success- 
fully resisted temptation and died with the assurance 
of Divine favor. Yet they did not have such victory 



TEMPTATION. 229 

over temptation as it is the privilege of the new cov- 
enant believer to have. They were not so delivered 
from the power of darkness. But in Christ a com- 
plete victory over Satan is assured to every faithful 
soul. It is under the Christian system that the pur- 
pose of God is fully made known, and the design of 
temptation is fully accomplished. It is true that 
Satan tempts unsaved men, but while men are in His 
power, the object of temptation is not secured. 
Temptation can serve no good end, unless it is suc- 
cessfully resisted. Consequently, the disciplinary ef- 
fects of temptation are realized fully by the saved 
soul only. To such it becomes an occasion of 
growth, a means of Spiritual education. As in the 
natural world, the inherent inertia of material things 
becomes an occasion of growth to the muscular 
system of him who grapples with them ; so in the 
Spiritual world, increase of strength is acquired by 
contending with the powers of darkness that are in- 
imical to Spiritual well being. The Christian's life is 
purposely one of conflict. God's people are not in 
this world simply to have a good time. While the re- 
ligion of Christ gives men peace with God and peace 
in their hearts, it brings them into immediate antag- 
onism with the system of things around them. In 
this respect, Christ came not to bring peace, but a 
sword. The child of God is in an enemy's land. He 
is in a world where the powers of darkness have con- 
trol. He must fight if he would reign. But "we 
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against 



230 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

principalities and powers, against the rulers of the 
darkness of this world ; against wicked spirits in the 
heavenly places." With these he must try conclu- 
sions. Against these he must wrestle unceasingly. 
By these he will be continually assaulted. He can 
look for no relief from Satan's onslaughts, until pro- 
bation ends. 

"Ne'er think the victory won, 
Nor lay thine armor down. 
The work of faith will not be done 
Till thou obtain the crown." 

It is not the business of the Christian to endeavor 
to escape temptation or to run away from the devil. 
He is commanded to resist the devil, that he may flee 
from him. He cannot run away from the adversary, 
but may cause his adversary to run away from him. 
No more is it his part to seek temptation. Enough 
will come to him without solicitation, to tax all his 
powers of resistance. Divine wisdom manages this 
matter. God has promised that no child of His shall 
be tempted above that he is able. Though Satan 
seems to have a free field in his efforts to corrupt 
man, yet so far as believers are concerned, his powers 
are limited. He can assail them no further than their 
powers of resistance extend. Otherwise, no doubt, 
they would be overwhelmed. There is, therefore, no 
excuse for yielding to temptation, since they are 
never tempted above their power to resist. However 
weak saints may be in themselves, God's strength is 
made perfect in their weakness, and His grace is 



TEMPTATION. 23 1 

always sufficient for them in every trial. Severe temp- 
tation is not a proof of weakness, nor an indication of 
depravity. Jesus, Himself, was tempted, and that in 
every point, yet without sin. It is to be presumed 
that Satan will most severely assault the soul that is 
most bold in renouncing His service, and most zeal- 
ous in attacking sin. So that we may " count it all 
joy when we fall into divers temptations," knowing 
that it is for the trial of our faith. 

As Christ was tempted in all points as we are, we 
may learn from His temptation in the wilderness, how 
we are likely to be assaulted. He was first tempted 
to distrust God. He was hungry, and far from 
human habitation, and Satan suggested that He should 
make use of His miraculous powers to provide for 
himself. He had not gone into the wilderness of His 
own motion, but was led there by the Spirit. Satan 
tempted Him to think that the Father had left Him 
to shift for Himself. He had no commission to make 
bread out of stones. It seems that the devil did not 
attack Him until after long fasting had much ex- 
hausted the powers of nature. We may learn from 
this that the devil is quick to take advantage of any 
weakness of ours, either physical or mental, to tempt 
and try us. Jesus did not get into an argument with 
Satan, which the adversary evidently desired, and en- 
deavored to provoke by his insinuation, " If thou be 
the Son of God." Disregarding his sneer, Jesus met 
him with a quotation from Scripture, " It is written, 
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 



112 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

word of God." How often since then has Satan used 
the same tactics with Christ's disciples. Happy are 
they if they use the same weapon in resisting him, 
the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Satan will 
get the child of God into an argument if he can, for 
he would rather parley than fight; knowing that the 
Christian is off his own ground while parleying with 
the devil. He will insinuate that God has forsaken 
us and that we would better be looking out for our- 
selves. But God has said : " I will never leave thee 
nor forsake thee." Give him this promise and stand 
by it, and his mouth is stopped. Never parley with 
him a moment. A parley is a truce, and what right 
has a saint to make a truce with Satan ? Enemies 
parley because they hope to find some ground for 
compromise, and reconciliation. But in this war we 
must conquer or be conquered. No quarter is given 
or taken, and compromise is defeat. 

As Satan failed to persuade our Lord to distrust 
His Father, he next tempted Him to presumption. 
He took Him up to a pinnacle of the temple in 
Jerusalem and said, "If thou be the Son of God, 
cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his 
angels charge over thee, and in their hands they shall 
bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot 
against a stone." In this case the devil shows his 
ability to quote Scripture. It has been charged that 
Satan left out part of the passage he professed to 
quote. The passage should read "to keep thee in 
all thy ways. " This might have been intentional on 



TEMPTATION. 233 

Satan's part, and may change the sense somewhat. 
But the devil does not always garble Scripture, 
though he always misapplies it, as he did in this case. 
Because the angels were to keep Him, was no reason 
why He should recklessly and for no good cause, ex- 
pose himself to danger. Consequently Jesus perti- 
nently replied, "It is written thou shalt not tempt the 
Lord thy God." God has given His angels charge 
over His people also. They are their constant 
guards, their attendants by day and by night. 
Charles Wesley has beautifully expressed this angelic 
guardianship in language as follows : 

"Which of the monarchs of the earth 
Can boast a guard like ours, 
Encircled from our second birth 
With all the heavenly powers ? 

" Myriads of bright cherubic bands, 
Sent by the King of Kings, 
Rejoice to bear us in their hands, 
And shade us with their wings. 

"Angels, where'er we go, attend 
Our steps, whate'er betide ; 
With watchful care their charge defend, 
And evil turn aside. 

" Our lives those holy angels keep 
From every hostile power ; 
And, unconcerned, we sweetly sleep, 
As Adam in his bower. 

"And when our spirits we resign, 
On outstretched wings they bear, 
And lodge us in the arms divine, 
And leave us ever there." 



234 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

In Heb. i: 14 we read, "Are they not all minis- 
tering spirits, sent forth to minister for them, who 
shall be heirs of salvation?" But notwithstanding the 
promise of angelic guardianship, we have no warrant 
to run into danger unnecessarily, nor to provoke 
without sufficient cause, the active opposition of the 
wicked world. Christians are required to be pru- 
dent, and to beware of men. Foolhardiness has no 
part in the Christian character. The Christian is al- 
ways perfectly safe so long as he is in the order of 
the Lord, being led by His spirit but, outside of that, 
he has no promise of protection. When he transcends 
those bounds, he puts himself in the power of the 
enemy, from which he may, or may not, be delivered. 

This temptation failing of its end, Satan then took 
our Lord up into an exceeding high mountain and 
showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the 
glory of them, and said "All these will I give thee, 
if thou wilt fall down and worship me." To under- 
stand the power of this temptation, we must remem- 
ber that the Father has promised to Christ, as the 
son of David, all the kingdoms of this world. But in 
order to obtain this joy set before him, he must 
endure the cross, despising the shame. In other 
words, the privilege of reigning, with his people, over 
the universal kingdom of peace on earth, must be 
gained through the suffering of death. Satan pro- 
poses an easier way of attaining the same end. He 
claimed, which Jesus knew to be true, that he had 
control over the kingdoms of the world, and could 



TEMPTATION. 235 

abdicate his authority if so disposed. Those who 
teach that the devil laid claim to what he did not 
possess, very much discredit the intelligence of the 
Lord Jesus. If these wise men know that the devil 
could not do as he promised, it is strange that our 
Lord should not have known it. And if he did know 
it, then there would have been no temptation in this 
offer ; for it can be no temptation to be promised 
what you know cannot be performed. Christ's temp- 
tation was a bitter reality, and not a farce. Satan's 
utmost efforts were put forth to corrupt him. All 
his devilish guile and subtlety, combined with hellish 
malice, were brought into exercise to defeat God's 
plan for the salvation of the race. This last tempta- 
tion was his masterpiece. And those who would be- 
little it by supposing that the devil was presuming 
upon the ignorance of his victim, only expose their 
own ignorance of the whole subject. The essence of 
the temptation was a solicitation to do evil that good 
might come. It was implied that the excellence of 
the end would justify the wickedness of the means 
used. To do homage to Satan was a small thing in 
appearance, though a wrong thing. What great 
good would follow that small act ! But Jesus replied, 
"It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 
and Him only shalt thou serve." It may seem to 
many that the scheme was transparent, yet many 
thousand wise and honorable men, since that time, 
have been caught in a similar net. Probably there 
is no one deception of Satan that has been successful 



236 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

with more well-meaning people than the tempta- 
tion to arrive at lawful ends by unlawful means. The 
devil's plan seems so much easier and cheaper than 
God's plan. It will cost so much less suffering and 
shame. But it is always found to be a delusion and 
a disappointment. The success that results from ac- 
cepting Satan's proposition is the worst kind of fail- 
ure. It will be found that Satan never relinquishes 
his suzerainty over those who have done him hom- 
age. And his victims find themselves involved in the 
condemnation of those who "do evil that good may 
come," and that condemnation the Scriptures declare 
to be a just one. 

All the temptations to which God's people are 
subject, when reduced to their elements, will be found 
to be either to unbelief, presumption, or to do evil 
that good may come. And Satan is diligent in his 
work, urged on by hellish malice, ever waiting for an 
opportunity to harm those especially who are in an- 
tagonism to his kingdom. Not that Satan, himself, is 
the only invisible tempter, for he is but the leader of 
an innumerable band of demons. They seem to be so 
plentiful that there is more than one for each tempted 
one. Mary Magdalene had seven, and the demoniac 
of Gadara possessed a legion, according to the teach- 
ing of the New Testament writers. With these, 

" Our secret, sworn eternal foes, 
Countless, invisible;" 

we are compelled to contend. They " still in strength 
excel," are subtle and cunning, have had long 



TEMPTATION. 237 

experience in tempting mankind, are thoroughly ac- 
quainted with man's weaknesses and passions, have 
great boldness and audacity, and feeble, foolish man 
is no match for them in his own strength. 

" But shall believers fear? 
But shall believers fly?" 

No, there is no safety in flight ; as well might we 
surrender at once. We must fight this good fight 
that we may lay hold on eternal life. 

'* By all hell's host withstood, 
We all hell's host o'erthrow; 
And conquering them through Jesus' blood 
To further conquest go." 

Jesus hath conquered hell. He hath vanquished 
Satan single handed, and through Him we may con- 
quer also, but only through Him. We shall conquer 
our adversary only because " Greater is He that is 
in us than he that is in the world." Our one offen- 
sive weapon, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of 
God, is one that our enemy cannot withstand. It 
were foolhardiness to trust to any other. Wielding 
this weapon vigorously, and meanwhile covering our- 
selves with the broad shield of faith which is effectual 
in quenching every fiery dart of the enemy, we can 
surely march to victory. A bold resistance to Satan 
will always cause him to flee. 

We are here in this state of trial, for the purpose 
of being tried and tested. Only such as stand the 
test, are fit material to go into God's glorious temple. 
God's redeemed host is to be the most eminent 



238 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

example of the survival of the fittest. They are to be 
made perfect through suffering, as the Master was. 
Temptations and tribulations, are the instrumentali- 
ties through which they are to attain to excellence. 
These things being true, it is easy to see how mis- 
taken the policy is, which seeks to remove men out 
of temptation, or which amounts to the same thing, 
which seeks to remove temptation out of the world. 
It is said that in order to preserve men in virtue, 
temptation must be driven into hiding, instead of 
publicly showing itself. Men's virtues are so weak 
and puny that they cannot resist solicitation to evil. 
What is a virtue worth that exists only for want of 
opportunity for vice ; or for want of temptation ? It 
is not stalwart enough to answer God's purpose. This 
attempt to escape temptation is directly at variance 
with God's purpose. There are no more tempters 
nor temptations in the world than accords with His 
purpose. He has not said, " Blessed is the man that 
escapes temptation," but " Blessed is the man that 
endureth temptation." He tells us to count it all joy 
when we fall into divers temptations, because the 
trial of our faith worketh patience. (James i: 2.) 
Much of the boasted work of modern religion is an 
attempt to thus remove temptation from men's paths. 
As a worldly policy this may be praiseworthy, as ; t 
helps to make the world appear more decent and re- 
spectable. But this is opposed to God's will. He says, 
let the corrupt tree bear evil fruit. He is not interested 
in deceptive appearances, that men should appear bet- 



TEMPTATION. 239 

ter than they really are. His design takes in eternity, 
and it is men's eternal interests he is promoting. 
These cannot be enhanced by sham or pretense. The 
realities must appear sooner or later. He is prepar- 
ing a race of heroes, who have come out of the 
furnace of affliction and temptation unscathed. Who 
have stood true where the majority failed ; faithful 
among the faithless, loyal among the rebellious. A 
faithful few upon whom all the arts of flattery, all the 
threats of power intrenched in evil, have been tried 
in vain, to shake their integrity. Who, with the 
world under their feet, and the Heavenly crown in 
view, have fearlessly faced obloquy and reproach, 
that they might stand with the truth. Whp have 
gladly acknowledged truth on a gibbet, and denounced 
falsehood on a throne. Who have dared to be right 
and do right, in defiance of the scorn of the world 
and the malice of hell. Who have been valiant for 
truth in the earth, quitting themselves like men. 
These tested, tried ones are to constitute the Lord's 
peculiar treasure, His jewels ; dear to Him as the 
apple of His eye, graven on the palms of His hands. 
Other possessions He has that are dear to Him, but 
none so dear as these. The rich man has many pos- 
sessions, all of which he values, some more, some 
less. He will show you his lands, his fine horses, 
his cattle in the fields. He will show you his beau- 
tiful furniture, his paintings, his statuary, his library 
of valuable books. He will show you his stocks and 
bonds, and other evidence of great wealth. Last of 



240 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

all, he will take you into his private room, unlock his 
safety vault, take out a beautiful casket, find the key 
in a secret place, unlock the casket and show you 
his diamonds and rubies, emeralds, sapphires, with 
strings of beautiful pearls, and tell you these are the 
most precious to him of all his possessions, and con- 
sequently the most carefully guarded. "And they 
shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day when I 
make up my jewels." The Church of Jesus Christ 
is God's jewel case, and the precious contents are 
peculiarly dear to the Lord. They are purchased 
with the blood of His dear Son. They have all 
borne every test, and been shown to be genuine and 
without flaw. 

There is a perfection that can be attained only 
through suffering. It may be called perfection of 
character to distinguish it from perfection of nature. 
God can give us a perfect nature, but perfection of 
character can come only as a result of the exercise of 
free choice. 

Adam had a perfect nature but failed to acquire 
a perfect character. The will, being free in respon- 
sible beings, cannot be made perfect at a stroke. It 
is through a voluntary choice of good, when both 
good and evil are offered to us, that the will becomes 
perfected. The whole design of probation is to dis- 
cipline the will. While man is under the dominion 
of sin, his will is not free to choose good, until the 
grace of God comes to his rescue. Without the in- 
fluence of the Holy Spirit, no sinner could possibly 



TEMPTATION. 24 1 

choose the good, for he could not desire it. It is 
when, by the power of God, man becomes emanci- 
pated from the slavery of sin, that his probation 
really begins. Until then he is handicapped in his 
choosing, by inclinations toward evil. And when to 
this is added temptation from without, he will find 
himself engaged in an unequal contest. But when 
his nature has been purified and his bent toward evil 
is removed, then he is in a condition to withstand 
temptation from without. Then, and not till then, is 
he prepared for trials and tests. Then tribulations 
and fiery trials for the disciplining of his soul, are in 
order. It is to this perfection of will the Apostle 
Peter refers in I. Peter v: 10, "But the God of all 
grace, who hath called us unto eternal glory by 
Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make 
you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." Here 
is a perfection to be attained through suffering. As 
to what is the nature of this perfection, we may learn 
from other passages. In Heb. ii : 10 we read: "For 
it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom 
are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to 
make the captain of their salvation perfect through 
sufferings." It is evident that here no perfection of 
the moral nature or affections is meant, as Christ was 
sinless in His birth. In Heb. v:8, 9, it is said 
"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience 
by the things which he suffered ; and being made 
perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto 
all them that obey him." Here we learn that the 

S. F. S .— 16 



242 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

perfection secured through suffering is obedience. It 
is such a disciplining of the will as causes it promptly 
and cheerfully to accept the will of the Father as 
right and good. The whole object of probation, then, 
is the education of the will. It is to bring the will of 
the creature into sweet subjection to, and into har- 
mony with, the will of the Creator. So that the 
creature will not obey simply because he knows noth- 
ing but obedience, but because he has learned from 
bitter experience that obedience is best, as well as right. 
This experience will so fix his will in the direction of 
obedience, that disobedience, in the absence of temp- 
tation, will become a moral impossibility. If it were 
not for this process of education and discipline of the 
will, the believer, so far as he is, himself, concerned, 
might just as well be taken to glory as soon as he is 
saved. But while he is undergoing this educational 
process, he is used by the Lord as an instrument for the 
salvation of His fellowmen. And not only does he enjoy 
the beneficent results of this training, results which 
will last eternally, but every choice of God's will 
instead of his own way, entitles him to a specific 
reward in the future, so that he is every way the 
gainer by his sufferings. " These light afflictions 
which are but for a moment, work out for us a far 
more exceeding, and eternal weight of glory." What 
a grand and glorious scheme* is God's plan of redemp- 
tion ! What a great privilege it is to be admitted to 
contest for such a prize ! All the ages to come belong 
to those who are victors in this contest. " These are 



TEMPTATION. 243 

they which have come up out of great tribulation, 
and have washed their robes and made them white in 
the blood of the Lamb." 

"Therefore are they next the throne, 
Serve their Maker day and night; 
God resides among His own; 
God doth in His saints delight." 

As to those who have failed to measure up to 
God's just expectations, "Reprobate silver shall men 
call them, because the Lord has rejected them." 
Leaving punitive justice out of the question, what an 
immeasurable loss have they sustained. The future 
ages will have no hope for them. They have had 
their chance and failed to improve it. To them eter- 
nity will be full of regrets for what might have been. 

Let us then take courage and endure the conflict 
a little longer. 

"Courage your Captain cries, 
Who all your toil foreknew; 
Toil ye shall have, but all despise, 
I have o'ercome for you." 

Your Father hath made you heir of all things, 
and in a little while you shall come into the whole of 
your inheritance. Soon ye shall be privileged to lay 
your armor by, no more to contend and strive, and 
that peace that your souls delight in shall be given 
you in full abundance. The trial will be over and 
the verdict shall be, "Well done thou good and 
faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few 
things I will make thee ruler over many things ; enter 
thou into the joy of thy Lord." 



SPIRITUAL 
CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD 



"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I under- 
stood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I 
became a man, I put away childish things." 

— I. Cor. xiii :ii. 

"That we henceforth be no more children. " — Eph. iv : 14. 

HHHE Apostle Paul conceived of the Christian dis- 
* pensation as the age of Spiritual manhood. 
This idea permeates his writings, and crops out in 
many places in them. He conceives of former dis- 
pensations as representing the Spiritual infancy and 
childhood of the race, and as intended to lead up to 
manhood by degrees. But little truth was revealed 
to fallen man in the beginning, but God less and less 
obscurely revealed himself to man during the progress 
of the centuries, until in Christianity the truth is 
clearly brought to light, and God stands clearly re- 
vealed to man, without a dimming veil between him 
and the believer. But we "with open face beholding 
as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are changed 
into the same image." "The law came by Moses, 
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." The 
Spiritual education of the race began immediately 
after the fall of man, and a promise of a Redeemer 
was promptly given to him. In order that the idea 
of sin and the need of an atonement might be im- 
(244) 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 245 

pressed on mankind, the practice of animal sacrifice 
was instituted and with the skins of the slain beasts 
man was clothed. Some persons among those to 
whom these rites were given seem at once to have 
grasped the ideas conveyed by them, while others did 
not. Thus while Abel offered an acceptable sacri- 
fice, Cain did not. Abel recognized his sinfulness 
and his need of atonement, by offering a lamb ; but 
Cain offered of the first fruits of the ground, a proper 
thank-offering, but one having no suggestion of sin, 
or the need of a Redeemer. Cain was furious at the 
rejection of his offering, and slew his brother who had 
recognized his need and had been accepted. Hence, 
the first murder resulted from a religious dispute. 
Afterward other religious emblems were introduced, 
such as circumcision, which was intended to intimate 
to man his need of Spiritual cleansing, until the law 
of Moses introduced a system of carnal ordinances, 
all intended to show man, by means of object lessons, 
his own sinfulness, his need of sin offering, and his 
need of Spiritual purification. The Apostle Paul 
tells us that the Mosaic dispensation stood in meats 
and drinks, and divers washings (baptisms) and car- 
nal ordinances imposed on men until the time of 
reformation. None of these things had any value in 
itself, but was only useful as it served to suggest 
Spiritual truth. Man's Spiritual understanding was 
small and his light dim, and only those things which 
addressed themselves to his outward senses at- 
tracted his attention at all. The mass of the people 



246 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

probably never saw further than the outward emblem, 
and derived no good at all from the object lesson, 
but a few in all ages were enabled to look beyond the 
sign and catch a glimpse of the Spiritual truth signi- 
fied. Divine Wisdom and Goodness adapted the 
teaching to man's weakness and ignorance, and en- 
deavored by means of visible things to lead men's 
minds up to the invisible and eternal. It is by such 
means that children are instructed. Children's books 
have pictures and illustrations, because it is so much 
easier for the childish mind to grasp an idea sug- 
gested by something visible and tangible. It is diffi- 
cult for the child to form a conception of abstract 
truth. Tell him that two and two make four, and 
his mind will fail to grasp the thought ; but show two 
visible objects as apples, and then add two more 
apples to the number, and he can at once grasp the 
concrete fact that two apples and two more apples 
make four apples. Yet in this manner of teaching 
there is always the possibility or danger of getting 
the abstract and the concrete mixed together in the 
child's mind. After having seen the illustration, if he 
is asked how many two and two make, he will prob- 
ably answer, "four apples," not separating in his 
mind the sign and the thing signified. He does not 
see but that "apples" is a part of the mathematical 
fact. But if properly taught he will at length learn 
the difference between mathematical facts, and the 
material things that illustrate them. The abstract 
science is eternal and unchangeable, and exists inde- 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 247 

pendently of all material uses. The illustrations of 
the scientific facts are temporary, and left behind 
after they have served their purpose. This is equally 
true of the emblems used to illustrate Spiritual truth. 
They serve their purpose of education and then are 
discarded as useless. They belong to the period of 
Spiritual childhood and are outgrown when the period 
of Spiritual manhood is reached. But if men are the 
subjects of arrested Spiritual development, they will 
never be outgrown, but will always be clung to as 
necessities. The boy will cherish a hobby horse, and 
the little girl a doll, which are lifeless representations 
of living objects, but men and women put away such 
childish things. The man might be persuaded to ride 
a hobby horse through a mistaken sense of duty, but 
he would find no enjoyment in it, and would be in- 
clined to feel ashamed of it. So Spiritual men feel 
with respect to those things belonging to Spiritual 
childhood. Now, as we have already stated, outward 
emblems and signs belong to the age of Spiritual 
childhood. All carnal ordinances are of this class. 
They were imposed on men until the time of refor- 
mation. They were intended to teach a useful lesson, 
but are no longer needed when full manhood is 
reached. " That is first which is natural, and after- 
ward that which is Spiritual." This being true, it 
follows that, as the Gospel of Christ brings men into 
the condition of Spiritual manhood, carnal ordinances 
have no part in the Christian system. We are told 
by the Apostle Paul, in Eph. ii : 14, 15, that " he is our 



248 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken 
down the middle wall of partition between us ; hav- 
ing abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of 
commandments contained in ordinances." Carnal 
ordinances belong to a carnal religion such as that 
the Jews had. They were of the essence of their 
religion. Take them away and nothing would be 
left. Their religion "stood in meats and drinks, and 
divers baptisms, and carnal ordinances." While there 
were some among the Jews who were heirs of all the 
promises, yet they were not heirs because of the old 
covenant, nor because of their membership in the 
Jewish Church, but because of the faith which they 
possessed. The old covenant was a state of bond- 
age to them. All the requirements of that covenant 
were "imposed" upon men ; that is, they were put on 
from the outside, and did not spring from anything 
within them. They were arbitrary requirements, 
nothing in their nature making them necessary. They 
depended for their existence entirely upon the will of 
the one who imposed them, and did not grow out of 
the nature of things. Such requirements are always 
yokes of bondage under any dispensation, and though 
under some circumstances they may be useful, they 
are irksome always. Under the Gospel, nothing is 
to be imposed on men, but we have the promise that 
all the requirements of the Gospel covenant are to 
be written in men's hearts. In this respect, the new 
covenant is to differ from the old. The Lord says, 
"Not according to the covenant that I made with 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 249 

their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead 
them out of Egypt. But I will put my law in their 
inward parts, and write it in their hearts." Under 
the Gospel, then, nothing is imposed on men, nothing 
arbitrary is required of them, but their whole con- 
duct is to be governed by those eternal principles of 
righteousness which are written on their hearts by 
the Blessed Spirit. Now, carnal ordinances are no 
part of those principles of righteousness. They are 
always arbitrary requirements, having no root in the 
reason of things, and no use except as symbols of 
that which is real and abiding. But the Gospel dis- 
pensation is a dispensation of realities. We are no 
longer occupied with symbols and types, but with 
substance and antetype. "The Kingdom of God is 
not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, 
and joy in the Holy Ghost." Now, while it is gener- 
ally admitted that the Kingdom of God, the Gospel 
dispensation, brings us to the experience and enjoy- 
ment of Spiritual realities, of which carnal ordinances 
were but symbols and shadows, yet, strange to say, 
men still persist in holding on to the carnal symbols, 
too. They admit that the Kingdom of God is right- 
eousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost; 
but insist that it is also meat and drink. But it can- 
not be both Spiritual and carnal at the same time. 
The sign loses all its value when it once has led up 
to the thing signified. The symbol can give us but 
a partial knowledge of a fact, as the natural cannot 
perfectly represent the Spiritual. Therefore, we 



25O SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

have many symbols of the same truth, giving us 
glimpses from various points of view, yet all are im- 
perfect and partial. "But when that which is perfect 
is come, then that which is in part is done away." 
(I. Cor. xiii:io.) The religion of types and shad- 
ows comes first, the religion of realities comes 
afterward. The two cannot be commingled ; their 
natures are entirely different. We cherish the por- 
traits of our friends in their absence, but we have no 
use for them when they are, themselves, with us. If 
our friends were always to remain with us, and always 
to remain the same, without any change from age or 
the lapse of time, we should never think of desiring 
their portraits. Were you to see a man fondly gazing 
upon the portrait of his wife whenever at leisure to 
do so, you would know of a certainty his wife was 
absent. If she were present, he would look at her 
instead. Thus, a fondness for types argues the ab- 
sence of the Spiritual reality it stands for. A sign 
on a guidepost may be useful to point out the way 
to the city we wish to visit, but when once we have 
reached the city, we have left the guidepost and its 
sign forever behind us. And, if we should fortu- 
nately have found our way to the city without seeing 
the guidepost, it would be preposterous to ask us to 
go back and read the signboard. But it is no more 
preposterous than to ask a man who has found Christ 
and the saving work of the Holy Spirit, to go back 
to those carnal ordinances which were but guide- 
posts .to show him the way to Christ. This would, 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 25 1 

indeed, be beginning in the Spirit, and then seeking 
to be made perfect by the flesh. 

When a man finds Christ, he finds all that he 
needs for his perfection. " And ye are complete in 
him which is the head of all principality and power." 
To look to carnal ordinances to add anything to the 
man who is in Christ, is the essence of Judaism. It is 
going backward and not forward. It is a practical 
denial of the Lord Jesus. It is saying that his salva- 
tion, his cleansing blood, and the renewing power of 
the Holy Spirit are not enough to make us perfect, 
but that we need some outward, carnal symbol to 
complete the work. But someone may object that 
he does not consider these ordinances essential to 
salvation. Then of what use are they? "O, they 
are commands," is the answer. That is, God has 
commanded His saved people to do something that 
does not help save them, that is not essential to their 
salvation at all. I do not believe it. God's service 
is a reasonable service. Such requirements would be 
the same yoke He came to break off. It would be 
imposing things on His people after the time of ref- 
ormation. It would be laying a temptation in their 
way to regard these nonessentials as of importance, 
to make idols of them, as the majority of professed 
Christians have done. And to what good end would 
this be done? They could be saved just as well with- 
out them. They do not touch their moral character. 
The time spent on nonessentials is wasted and might 
have been better employed. If I have no other way 



252 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

to test the obedience of my child than to require him 
to do something that is of no use, that does not need 
to be done, it might be proper to command the un- 
necessary thing. But if there were a thousand nec- 
essary things to be done, that would benefit him and 
be to my advantage also, and would equally test his 
obedience, what trifling it would be on my part to 
have him employed about something of no use to 
him or me. Yet men openly charge God with such 
trifling. No, there are no nonessentials in Chris- 
tianity. Righteousness and peace and joy in the 
Holy Ghost are essentials, and they constitute the 
Kingdom of God. The Christian is under no cere- 
monial law. He is under the moral law alone, and 
there are no nonessentials in the moral law. He is 
under the law of love, and nothing is nonessential 
that love prompts to, or that the law of love requires. 
The law under which the Christian lives is written in- 
side of him, and all its commands are reasonable and 
necessary. I think it may be reasonably assumed 
that, love in the heart never suggested to any man 
the duty of observing any carnal ordinance. A man 
might love God with all his heart for forty years and 
never suspect that it would please God for him to be 
baptized in water, or with water, unless it was sug- 
gested to him from without. The idea never orig- 
inated in God's law in his heart. The suggestion 
comes from the same source as the one spoken of in 
the Acts of the Apostles, chapter xv. " And certain 
men who came down from Judea taught the brethren, 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 253 

and said, Except ye be circumcised, after the manner 
of Moses, ye cannot be saved." The principle sug- 
gested is just the same, the necessity of a carnal or- 
dinance in order to salvation. 

But someone may say, " I see the force of your 
argument, but are not carnal ordinances commanded 
in the New Testament?" Not by our Lord nor by 
His authority. Of course, if it can be shown that 
Christ instituted carnal ordinances and commanded 
His people to observe them, what has been said 
against them should have no weight. The carnal 
ordinances or sacraments, usually taught as having 
been instituted by Christ, are two; water baptism, 
and the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist. Some sects 
hold to others, such as feet washing, the holy kiss, 
etc., but these are not generally recognized. The 
Romanists hold to seven sacraments. I believe they 
are baptism, the Eucharist, confirmation, ordination, 
the monastic life, marriage, and extreme unction. It 
will be seen, then, that there is no agreement among 
Christian sects as to the number of these carnal 
ordinances established by our Lord. This would 
suggest at the first glance that the instituting of these 
ordinances was not a clearly established fact, or there 
would be more agreement about the number of them. 
So far as I know, there was never any controversy 
among the Jews as to the number of carnal ordi- 
nances instituted among them, nor as to the time or 
manner of observing them. Certainly, had Christ 
instituted ordinances to be observed by His people, 



2 54 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

He would have been as explicit as to their number, 
and the exact time and manner of observing them, as 
Moses was. That He was not so explicit, but leaves 
the matter in doubt, is presumptive evidence against 
the claim that He instituted any such ordinances. 
Not only do men honestly differ as to the number 
of the sacraments, but they differ as widely about 
the nature and design of those they agree were insti- 
tuted, and the manner of observing them. They can 
agree about the Jewish ordinances, but differ widely 
about those they call Christian sacraments. This is 
astonishing when we remember that Christ came to 
give us a clearer knowledge of God's will than was 
ever before experienced. One of two things is cer- 
tain : either Christ failed to make the will of God 
clear concerning the sacraments he established, or 
He did not institute any sacraments. 

Take the ordinance of water baptism. The nomi- 
nal Church has been rent into fragments over the 
controversies concerning this rite. Various sects 
differ as to its nature, design, mode, subjects, and 
administrators. Some teach that it is a saving ordi- 
nance, others that it has no saving efficacy. Some 
teach that it is designed to symbolize the work of the 
Holy Spirit in cleansing men's hearts. Others teach 
that it symbolizes the burial and resurrection of the 
Lord Jesus. Some teach that the only proper mode 
is by affusion ; others teach that immersion is the 
only genuine baptism. Some teach that sinners are 
the proper subjects of baptism ; others teach that 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 255 

saints are the only proper subjects. Some teach that 
a certain ordination is necessary to qualify anyone 
to administer the rite ; others claim that any Chris- 
tian has the right to administer it. Some who teach 
immersion in water as the only baptism, plunge the 
subject but once in water, in the name of the Holy 
Trinity. Others plunge the subject three times, once 
in the name of each person in the Godhead, and 
turn the subject face downward as they immerse him. 
So we have confusion among nominal believers on 
this ordinance, and they mutually disfellowship one 
another. Yet we have every reason to think one 
party as honest as another. It is certainly deplora- 
ble that our Lord, in instituting this ordinance, did 
not set it forth with such clearness that, at least, all 
honest inquirers might agree upon its characteristics. 
It is most strange that he, taking in future ages at 
a glance, and seeing the confusion that was to arise 
among his professed followers over this rite, should 
not have been more explicit. If it was a Spiritual 
truth about which they disagree, it might be ex- 
plained upon the hypothesis that few came to the 
consideration of it with enlightened understandings, 
and so could not comprehend it. But it is a carnal 
ordinance, which requires no Spiritual insight to 
understand, and which ought to be as easily under- 
stood as the old covenant ordinances. I cannot be- 
lieve that our Lord could have been so obscure in 
His teachings ; therefore I conclude that He never 
instituted the ordinance of baptism. There is one 



256 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

fact that bears upon the subject, that seems to point 
in this direction. While the Lord Jesus sent His 
Apostles to baptize with water before Pentecost, He 
did not baptize anyone Himself. This abstention is 
significant. It had been said, " He shall baptize you 
with the Holy Ghost." That was His baptism, and 
He would administer no other. But says one, "Was 
not He baptized in water?" Certainly He was; He 
was also circumcised, and ate the paschal lamb. If 
we are to be baptized in water because He was, why 
not be circumcised also ? He took upon himself the 
form of a servant and was made under the law. 
Therefore, whatever was required of other Jews, He 
submitted to. It became Him thus to fulfill all 
righteousness. But He did not place Himself under 
the law to put us under the law, but to redeem us from 
under it. (Gal. iv : 4, 5 .) The opinion that we should 
imitate His obedience to legal requirements arises 
out of ignorance. Christ's baptism, then, is no ex- 
ample for our imitation, except that in a general way 
it teaches obedience to the requirements of God's 
will. When, then, did Christ institute the ordinance 
of baptism in and for His Church? There is but one 
occasion where he commanded baptism, and that was 
in His commission to His Apostles, which is gener- 
ally called the great commission. If in that commis- 
sion water baptism is commanded, it must be con- 
fessed that it is an institution of the Church of Christ. 
According to Matthew xxviii : 18-20, Jesus said 
to His Apostles just before His ascension to Heaven, 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 257 

"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 
Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you ; and lo, 
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
world." In Mark xv: 15, 16, it is given, "And He 
said unto them, go ye into all the world and 
preach the Gospel to every creature. He that 
believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that 
believeth not shall be damned." In Luke xxiv:46- 
48, it is given thus: "And he said unto them, thus 
it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suf- 
fer, and to rise from the dead the third day : and 
that repentance and remission of sins should be 
preached in his name among all nations, beginning at 
Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things." 
As no two evangelists give the commission in the 
same language, we do not know just what Jesus' 
words were. He may have said all these things, or 
each evangelist may give the commission as he re- 
membered it, giving the substance and not the words. 
Matthew and Mark more nearly agree in this, as in 
most other things. Luke says nothing at all about 
baptism, so we can leave his version of the com- 
mission out of consideration. It is strange, though, 
if Christ then instituted a Gospel ordinance, that both 
Luke and John are silent on that point. They either 
did not consider the matter important, or it escaped 
their memory. If the first two Gospels had been lost 

S. F. S.— 17 



258 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

and only the two last had survived, we should have 
had no account of this important matter, supposing 
Christ did here institute the ordinance of water bap- 
tism. And bear in mind that the burden of proof 
rests with those who affirm that the ordinance was 
instituted, as I have shown that it is contrary to what 
we should have expected, beforehand, to find in a 
Spiritual religion, a religion of substance rather than 
shadow. The presumption is against it. Hence if 
the language of Christ can be reasonably explained 
on any other hypothesis, the claim that a carnal rite 
was instituted, falls to the ground. The silence of 
two witnesses is presumptive evidence against it. 

We will candidly examine the account of the two 
witnesses who spoke of baptism. According to Mat- 
thew, Jesus said, Go teach all nations, baptizing them 
into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 
Now the question to be decided is, What baptism did 
Christ mean ? Was it water baptism, or the baptism 
of the Holy Spirit? Someone may answer, It must 
be water baptism, as the Apostles could not baptize 
with the Holy Spirit. But in John xx:22, 23 it is 
recorded that Jesus breathed on the Apostles and 
said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose soever sins 
ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whose 
soever sins ye retain, they are retained. This is 
John's account of the commission. The Apostles 
could baptize with the Holy Ghost in the same sense 
in which they could remit sins. They could do it in- 
strumentally. In James v : 20, we are told that, " He 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 259 

which converteth a sinner from the error of his way 
shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multi- 
tude of sins." God, alone, can actually save souls from 
death, but men can do it instrumentally. So it is not 
necessary to suppose that water baptism is meant in 
the commission. According to Mark, Jesus said, "He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he 
that believeth not shall be damned." Literally trans- 
lated it would read, He that believeth, being baptized, 
shall be saved. We shall endeavor to show that the 
supposition that water baptism is here meant, involves 
an absurdity. However, one thing is certain ; if 
water baptism is here meant, it is absolutely requisite 
to salvation. In other words, whatever baptism is 
here spoken of, is made a prerequisite of salvation. 
No one can be saved without it. There is here no 
promise of salvation made in its absence. The be- 
liever, being baptized, is saved. The unbaptized be- 
liever is not promised salvation. But, objects some- 
one, does not Jesus say that "he that believeth hath 
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemna- 
tion (damnation) ? He certainly does say so. It 
must be true the first moment he believes if it is ever 
true ; for if it is at any moment untrue, it is always 
untrue. But a man cannot be baptized in a mo- 
ment after he believes. So, if Jesus tells the truth in 
one place, he contradicts himself in the other. In 
one place He tells us that believing and eternal life 
always exist together. In the other place, if He 
means water baptism, He tells us that they do not 



260 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

always exist together ; but that the believer must 
wait until someone baptizes him before he has eternal 
life. But it is objected again : Was not Cornelius, 
the centurion, baptized with the Holy Ghost, and 
saved, before he was baptized with water? So Luke 
tells us in the Acts of the Apostles. But the bap- 
tism in the great commission must precede salvation, 
according to Jesus' words, as given by the Evangel- 
ist. Therefore, it could not have been water baptism. 
I will now show the absurdity involved in the sup- 
position that water baptism is meant in the commis- 
sion given the Apostles. There must, always, a greater 
or less space of time intervene between a profession 
of faith in Christ and baptism by water. Now what 
moral condition is the believer in between the time 
of believing and the time of being baptized ? He is 
not condemned, for only those who believe not are 
condemned. He is not saved, for only the baptized 
are saved. Therefore, he is neither condemned nor 
acquitted, saved nor lost. This is an absurdity; as a 
man must be either in one state or the other. We 
conclude, then, that to suppose Christ refers to water 
baptism in his commission to his Apostles, involves 
both a contradiction of the Scriptures, and an ab- 
surdity. Therefore, He did not mean water baptism. 
He did refer to the baptism of the Holy Ghost, His 
peculiar baptism. The moment a sinner believes on 
the Lord, that moment he is baptized of the Holy 
Spirit. No space of time intervenes between faith 
and baptism. This baptism is absolutely essential to 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 26 1 

salvation, for it is by the Holy Spirit that the work 
of purifying our souls is performed. As the baptism 
of the Spirit always accompanies saving faith, it 
might be thought unnecessary to have mentioned it. 
But when we remember how much faith there is that 
does not save, that the great mass of professed be- 
lievers are unbaptized, notwithstanding what Jesus 
says, we can see the propriety of Jesus' words. It is 
not all kinds of faith that saves, but only faith that is 
accompanied by the baptism of the Spirit. Therefore, 
it is said, "He that believeth, being baptized, shall be 
saved." No faith unaccompanied by baptism will save 
him. 

What St. Paul says about his commission, confirms 
this view of the great commission. Either St. Paul 
was acting under the great commission or he was not. 

If he was, what he says about his commission ap- 
plies to it. If he was not, then no one can claim to 
to be so acting, and that commission gives us no 
authority to baptize, if it does not apply to us. But 
probably no one will deny that St. Paul was acting 
under the great commission. But he declares there 
was no command to baptize (with water) in his com- 
mission. (I. Cor. i: 17.) "For Christ sent men not 
to baptize, but to preach the Gospel." He confesses 
that he had baptized a few at Corinth, but is thank- 
ful that he had done no more of it, as he sees the 
evil results of the practice. What occurred at Cor- 
inth is liable to occur anywhere, and if he had been 
doing just what the Lord sent him to do, to express 



262 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

thankfulness that he had done so little of it, would 
have been impugning God's wisdom. He certainly 
would not have sent him to do anything that was 
likely to prove a danger to souls. So the Apostle 
clears the Lord of all responsibility for the disorders 
resulting from water baptism, declaring that the Lord 
did not authorize the practice. If He did not author- 
ize it in Corinth in the first century, He does not 
authorize it here and now. 

John the Baptist claimed water baptism as his 
baptism, saying, "I indeed baptize you with water 
unto repentance." " He shall baptize you with the 
Holy Ghost." He did not intimate that Christ should 
baptize with water and the Holy Spirit also, but con- 
trasts his own baptism with water, with Christ's bap- 
tism with the Holy Ghost. He said, " He must in- 
crease, but I must decrease." It is supposed that in 
Acts, chapter xix, we have a rebaptism of persons 
who had been baptized by John the Baptist ; that is, 
rebaptism in water ; and from this, it is argued that 
Christ has a water baptism distinct from John's bap- 
tism. But there is no proof of this. The Apostle 
was inquiring of these disciples as to whether they 
had received the Holy Ghost, and does not say a 
word about any other water baptism than the one 
they already had. They did not need to be baptized 
again in water to receive the Holy Ghost, for John 
the Baptist promised it to those receiving his baptism. 
It is said (Acts xix : 5), "When they heard this, they 
were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus." 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 263 

There is no proof of a water baptism, and the cir- 
cumstances are all against the supposition. " But 
the Holy Ghost came on them afterward upon impo- 
sition of the Apostle's hands," it is objected. The 
Apostles had the power of imparting miraculous 
gifts by the imposition of hands, and that is what was 
here done. I do not deny the possibility of a rebap- 
tism in water having occurred, but it is not proven, 
and will not do to found a doctrine on. The Apostles 
and Disciples at Pentecost had no rebaptism in water 
before receiving the Holy Spirit, and I do not see 
w r hy they should have thought it necessary for others, 
when it was not necessary on their part ; and I can- 
not believe that they did so think, without stronger 
proof than the account in Acts xix furnishes. 

But, says one, after all your arguments against the 
ordinance, the fact remains that the Apostles did ad- 
minister water baptism after Pentecost and the de- 
scent of the Holy Spirit. The fact is not denied. But 
I unhesitatingly affirm that it was done without 
Divine authority. I have already shown that the 
Apostle Paul disclaims any Divine authority for bap- 
tizing with water, although he, for a time, practiced 
it. One mistake commonly made, is the supposition 
that the Apostles w r ere infallible in their teachings 
and actions. When they wrote what the Lord de- 
signed should be preserved as Scripture, we admit 
their plenary inspiration, but there is no proof that at 
other times they were inspired in any other sense 
than it is the privilege of all Christians, and especially 



264 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Christian ministers, to be inspired. They were prom- 
ised the Holy Ghost as their teacher and guide, but 
so are we. He was to guide them into all truth, and 
this was not learned all at once. They knew the es- 
sentials of the Gospel, so that they could preach to 
save souls, but there were many things that they 
did not understand in the beginning. The knowl- 
edge of the Gospel grew upon them, and critics claim 
to be able to fix the dates of the various epistles by 
the internal evidence of this increase in knowledge. 
When we call to mind that Peter had preached the 
Gospel several years before he even suspected that it 
was intended for any but the Jews, we can see how 
he might be confused in his mind on the meat and 
drink question, if he could be ignorant on so impor- 
tant a point as the extent of his commission. The Lord 
had to especially prepare his mind for the reception 
of the invitation to preach to the Gentiles, or he evi- 
dently would have refused to preach to Cornelius the 
Roman centurion. The carnal rites, and the arbi- 
trary distinctions and prohibitions of the ceremonial 
law, were so grounded in the Jewish mind that it was 
difficult to emancipate them from its yoke. All 
Christ's teachings are infallible, and if their teachings 
or practices conflict with Christ's words, we will fol- 
low them only as they followed Christ. On this 
question of water baptism we have conclusive proof 
that St. Peter was for a long time untaught of God, 
as well as on the matter of the possible salvation of 
the Gentiles. The Apostles had for some time pre- 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 265 

vious to their conversion at Pentecost, been baptizing 
with water, and promising men the Holy Spirit, as 
John the Baptist did. They administered water bap- 
tism and preached the baptism of repentance for 
remission of sins. When at Pentecost the Holy Spirit 
was given, and Peter in obedience to Christ's injunc- 
tion arose to strengthen his brethren, and such re- 
markable results followed the preaching, so that 
sinners pricked in their hearts cried out : Men and 
brethren, what shall we do ? Peter told them to do 
just what he had been telling them to do up to that 
time, to " repent and be baptized for the remission of 
sins," but he promised them the immediate reception 
of the Holy Spirit, which he could not do until then. 
Before that he could promise the Holy Spirit in 
the future, now he could assure them of its immediate 
reception. Now while Peter required that of these 
persons which God does not require, yet the error 
was not material, as it could not prevent their receiv- 
ing the gift of the Holy Spirit, provided their faith 
was genuine. But, asks one, How do you know that 
he required more than God requires ? I have already 
shown that to be a fact, but I will give further proof of 
the fact. When Peter a long time afterward was, by the 
advice of an angel, sent for, to preach to Cornelius, 
after the Lord had by means of a vision softened his 
Jewish prejudices so far that he consented to go, he 
at once began preaching Christ to those assembled 
to hear him. Their minds were in such a prepared 
state for the reception of Gospel truth, that, as Peter 



266 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

preached, they immediately believed the truth they 
heard, and the Holy Spirit fell upon them, and their 
hearts were purified by faith. They asked no ques- 
tions and gave Peter no chance to tell them to be 
baptized in order to receive the Holy Spirit. Peter 
seems to have been nonplussed, as he does not ap- 
pear to have been expecting such prompt results. 
When he saw that these Gentiles had undoubtedly re- 
ceived the Spirit without water baptism, which he at 
Pentecost taught to be a prerequisite, he said, " Who 
can forbid water that these should not be baptized, 
who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" 
He did not yet see but that water baptism should 
come in somewhere ; and since he did not get it in as 
a condition of salvation, he recommends it as a re- 
sult of salvation. Now it is evident if he was right at 
Pentecost, he was wrong here ; for water baptism can- 
not be both a condition of salvation, and a result of 
it. It cannot be required of us in order to be saved, 
and also because we are saved. It is clear, although 
Peter practiced this rite, that he did not know its use 
nor design, or he would not thus have stultified him- 
self. If Paul was right, the Lord had not sent Peter 
to baptize ; and no doubt Paul was right, as the Lord 
would not send a man to baptize without giving him 
a clear knowledge of the design of the ordinance. 
We conclude, then, that the practice of water baptism 
by the Apostles and first Christians, was unauthor- 
ized by the Lord, and resulted from their prejudices 
in favor of fleshly ordinances because of their educa- 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 267 

tion, and their want of full knowledge of the nature 
of Christ's religion. It is the little leaven introduced 
by the woman, the Jewish Church, into the three 
measures of meal, the religion of Christ, destined to 
leaven the whole lump. Another proof of the want 
of clear understanding of Christ's religion by the 
Apostles in the beginning, is furnished by what is 
called the first Council at Jerusalem. 

The council was called to decide what was to be 
done with the Gentile converts. After a long dis- 
cussion, it was decided not to impose the yoke of the 
Mosaic law on these Gentile saints, but only certain 
necessary things. These were four : abstention from 
meats offered to idols, from blood, from things 
strangled, and from fornication. Now, of these four 
things which it seemed to them necessary that the 
Gentiles should abstain from, but one was necessary, 
as St. Paul afterward teaches. That one was forni- 
cation. It is a violation of the moral law ; the others 
are only violations of the Jewish ceremonial law. 
The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that meat 
offered to idols will not harm them, as " an idol is 
nothing in the world." But he tells them to be care- 
ful in using this liberty, lest it stumble some weak 
brother, or even the idolater himself. If nothing is 
said about the matter, they need ask no questions. 
He tells us, in his letter to the Romans, that he 
knows and is persuaded by the Lord Jesus that noth- 
ing is unclean of itself; that these distinctions are 
arbitrary. That nothing is unclean to anyone only 



268 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

as he esteems it so. This agrees with Christ's dec- 
laration that nothing denies the man which goeth 
into his mouth, but that which cometh out of the 
heart. So things strangled, and blood, are hot defil- 
ing, though these Apostles taught the Gentile con- 
verts they were. They were mistaken. 

Again Paul, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, tells us 
that "There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye 
are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one 
faith, one baptism." Now, it is never said that Christ 
shall baptize with water, but it is expressly declared 
that He shall baptize with the Holy Ghost. This, 
then, must be His one baptism. Unless, then, water 
baptism is the same thing, it can have no place in 
the Christian system. If it were the same we could 
not have either one, without at the same time pos- 
sessing the other. This, we know, is not the case, as 
we can have one and be destitute of the other, so 
they are not the same. We conclude, then, that the 
one baptism is that of the Holy Spirit. Much more 
might be pertinently said upon this subject, if space 
would permit, but what has already been said may be 
sufficient. 

With respect to the other usually received sacra- 
ment, the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, there is less pre- 
sumptive evidence for it than for water baptism. All 
the evangelists mention the Last Supper at which the 
ordinance is supposed to have been instituted, but John 
says nothing of the breaking of bread. None of them 
intimate that a new ordinance was then instituted, 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 269 

Three of them give an account of the eating of the 
Passover Supper by Christ and His Disciples, and of 
Christ's explanation of the meaning of the elements 
used at that supper, bread and wine! Jesus said of 
the supper, "With desire have I desired to eat this 
Passover with you before I suffer." But he gives no 
intimation that there was to be anything but a Pass- 
over Supper. John mentions the washing of the Dis- 
ciples' feet, the others say nothing of this. Of the 
three evangelists who mention the breaking of bread 
and the dividing of the cup, but one of them says 
anything that can be construed into a command to 
continue the practice of thus eating and drinking. 
Luke represents Christ as saying, "This do in remem- 
brance of me." The others simply tell of what Christ 
said, and mention no command. They represent 
it simply as an explanation of the meaning of the 
Passover Supper. It seems strange that, if Christ 
here instituted an ordinance, that He did not clearly 
say so, and tell just what force or meaning there was in 
it. St. Paul, in I. Corinthians, adds, " For as oft as ye 
eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show forth the 
Lord's death till He come." The Romanists gather 
from this language of Christ, "This is My body," and 
"This is My blood," that in the Eucharist men do eat 
the literal body of Christ ; that when the priest blesses 
the elements, they are changed into the real body 
and blood of the Lord Jesus ; that the elements of 
bread and wine are no longer present, but that their 
substance is changed into the substance of Christ's 



27O SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

body and blood, so that Christ's body is really masti- 
cated and swallowed by the communicant. This 
Luther maintained in his debate with Zwingle. This 
is called "transsubstantiation." The Lutherans after- 
ward adopted the idea that the substance of the ele- 
ments, bread and wine, were not destroyed, but that 
the substance of Christ's body and blood exists in the 
elements after consecration. This is called " consub- 
stantiation." The Protestants, generally, teach that 
the substance of the bread and wine remain, and that 
Christ's body and blood are present only in some 
Spiritual sense after consecration, or that the 
elements are only emblems of Christ's body and 
blood. Some think it a duty to " commune " every 
day, some every first day of the week, some four 
times a year, and others twice a year. Some hold 
that all penitents have a right to the table, 
the invitation being, "Ye that do earnestly repent of 
your sins, and are in love and charity with your 
neighbors, and intend to lead a new life," etc. Others 
will allow only converted persons to " commune." 
Still others require a certain mode of baptism to 
qualify for admission to the Lord's table. There is 
not as clear evidence that the early Christians prac- 
ticed this ordinance as there is of the practice of water 
baptism. They are said to have met on the first day of 
the week to break bread, but whether this was done as 
a sacrament or only as a love feast is not clearly estab- 
lished. Paul's language in his first letter to the Cor- 
inthians is the strongest proof of such an observance 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 27 1 

of the Lord's Supper, and it is not conclusive. But 
admitting that this supper was observed as a sacra- 
ment, the question is whether it was Christ's intention 
that it should be so observed, or whether it was done 
without Divine authority. In the proper sense, the 
whole life of the believer is a sacrament ; everything 
pertaining to the Christian life is sacramental. If 
Jesus did, indeed, command us, literally, to eat and 
drink in remembrance of him, let us see what it 
means. What were we commanded to eat and drink? 
"This bread," "This cup." What bread? There can 
be but two kinds of bread, the material and the 
Spiritual ; the one nourishing the body, the other 
nourishing the soul. The bread that Christ broke, 
and which he gave the Disciples, was material bread, 
that nourishes the body. This is received into the 
mouth and goes through a digestive process in order 
to furnish nourishment. It was used under the law as 
a type of Christ's body. The other bread is received 
by faith and nourishes the Spiritual man. There is no 
third kind of bread. As oft as we eat this mate- 
rial bread, then, we do it in remembrance of Christ. 
That is, whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we 
do, we are to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. 
We receive this bread several times each day. It is 
sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (I. Tim. 
iv: 5.) It is as truly sacramental as it can be made. 
So if we are to understand the Lord Jesus liter- 
ally, every believer obeys Him every time he 
takes nourishment into his body, receiving it with 



272 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

thanksgiving. He then eats " this bread " and " drinks 
this cup." And if he eats and drinks unworthily, he 
eats and drinks condemnation to himself. 

But I deny that Christ is to be understood in a 
literal sense when He enjoins upon us the duty of 
eating His flesh and drinking His blood. In the 
same connection He commands other observances 
which are not generally understood literally. It is 
not usually believed that He intended that the Dis- 
ciples should literally wash each other's feet. But 
this is as plain a command as to eat bread and drink 
wine. He also expressly commands the Disciples 
to provide themselves with swords, even at the cost 
of selling their garments. And the Disciples under- 
stood Him literally, as Peter's words show. And the 
Lord does not say a word to disabuse their minds. 
Simon Peter said, "Lord, here are two swords." 
Jesus replied, " It is enough." No one understands 
Him to mean that each Disciple must possess a literal 
sword. Then why should He be understood literally 
concerning the bread and wine? But we have 
Christ's express declaration against a literal or meta- 
phorical interpretation of His language. In John's 
Gospel, vi:45, 58, we will find Christ discoursing 
upon the same subject. The gist of it is found in 
the verses 53 and 54: " Verily, verily, I say unto 
you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and 
drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso 
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal 
life ; and I will raise him up at the last day." Here 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 273 

He is talking on exactly the same subject as at the 
Last Supper. The Jews, generally, and even the Dis- 
ciples, understood him literally. The former said, 
"How shall this man give us His flesh to eat?" The 
Disciples murmured at it, and Jesus felt constrained 
to give them an explanation of His meaning. He 
said to them, "Doth this offend you? What and if 
ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was 
before? It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh 
profiteth nothing; the words which I speak unto 
you, they are spirit and they are life. " He does not 
say His words are emblem and metaphor. If He 
had said so, we would understand that we were to 
eat bread and drink wine as emblems of His body 
and blood. He tells us He is to be understood in a 
sense wholly Spiritual. But He tells us something 
else: "The flesh profiteth nothing." This word 
"flesh" is evidently used in contrast with the follow- 
ing words ''spirit and life." In other words, He 
declares that no eating profits but a Spiritual eating. 
A literal eating of His flesh and drinking of His 
blood would not profit; nor would an emblematic 
eating profit. Nothing but a Spiritual eating profits. 
The ordinance of the Eucharist is a fleshly ordinance, 
just as much so as the Passover was, consequently it 
is pronounced to be without profit by the Lord Jesus 
Himself. That ought to decide the question. How 
does eating bread and drinking wine show forth the 
Lord's death? His death was a death to sin. (Rom. 
vi:io.) "For in that he died, he died unto sin 

S. F. S.— 18 



274 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

once." I can only show forth His death by being 
dead to sin. No one but a saint can show forth 
Christ's death. A sinner can eat bread and drink 
wine, and thus a hypocrite could show forth Christ's 
death, and just as effectually as a saint. The Chris- 
tian's death to sin is a positive proof that Christ died. 
It is a perpetual memorial of that fact. A holy life, 
showing deadness to sin and the world, is a constant 
reminder of Calvary. Christ did not institute a 
spectacle, a dramatic performance, to remind people 
of His death. Such an institution would be unworthy 
of Christ. He did not intend to establish an ordi- 
nance in which His enemies, hypocrites and false pro- 
fessors, should be on an equality with His friends 
and followers, in honoring His memory. There is 
not one command of Christ to His people that can be 
obeyed by anyone not a child of God. All these 
outward ordinances, this keeping of days, this dis- 
tinction of clean and unclean meats, belong to 
Judaism. They are no part of Christianity. They 
are the cast-off rubbish of a dispensation of shadows, 
which once were useful, but now put away, since the 
substance has been given us. They cannot be 
successfully conjoined with Christianity, for they are 
not homogeneous with it. I think I have shown, then, 
that whatever the practice of the early Christians 
may have been with respect to outward ordinances, 
that they were not authorized by Christ, but repudi- 
ated by Him. That the first Christians used them 
only because of their Jewish predilection for carnal 



SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD. 275 

ordinances and because they yet were not fully 
taught in the things of the kingdom. All these car- 
nal rites, these shadows and emblems, these types 
and object lessons, belonged to the age of Spiritual 
childhood. Spiritual men have outgrown them. If 
any Spiritual man still holds on to them, he does it 
because he is not fully instructed in Gospel truth, 
and gladly lets them go when he sees it his privilege 
to do so. They are only a burden to him ; he feels 
no need of them. He has outgrown them since he 
has become a man, and would fain put away childish 
things. But I would not rudely snatch them from 
anyone. Let children have them so long as they 
please them. I would not take away the playthings 
of a child. He will outgrow them and lay them by, 
himself, after while. So Spiritual manhood will 
cause us to put away these things, proper only for 
childhood. 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH 



"There remaineth therefore a rest to thepeople of God." 

— Heb. iv:9. 

/^AUITE an amount of controversy has lately arisen 
^-^ over the question of Sabbath-keeping. The 
main point in dispute is as to which is the proper 
day to observe; some contending for the seventh 
day of the week, while the great majority hold to 
the first day of the week as the Christian Sabbath. 
Those who hold to the seventh day quote Scripture 
to prove their position, while those holding to the 
first-day Sabbath depend principally upon tradition, 
and the practice of the Church for centuries past, to 
prove their position. The Scriptures depended upon 
by the advocates of the seventh-day Sabbath are 
found in the Old Testament, as there is nothing in the 
New Testament which can be used that way. They 
argue that as God originally fixed upon the seventh 
day as the Sabbath, and has nowhere authorized 
a change of the day, the seventh day must still be 
the proper day to observe. It has never been shown 
where a change of the day has been made by Divine 
authority. The Emperor Constantine commanded 
the Christians to observe the great day of the sun as 
a sacred day, but that can scarcely be considered 
Divine authority. The advocates of the first-day 
(276) 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 277 

Sabbath point to the fact of the resurrection of the 
Lord Jesus on the first day of the week, and to the 
practice of the early Christians in meeting on the first 
day of the week to break bread, though this practice 
is mentioned but once. (Acts xx:/\) In Revela- 
tions there is mention made of the Lord's Day, but 
whether the first day of the week is meant is only 
conjecture. But in no place is the first day of the 
week called the Sabbath, nor is any hint given of a 
change of day. Hence, as I said above, the proof of 
the change rests upon tradition principally, scarcely 
sufficient proof to produce confidence, or certainty. 
It seems to me, then, that the advocates of the seventh 
day have the preponderance of proof, and if Chris- 
tians are bound to keep any day as the Sabbath day 
the seventh day is clearly and obviously the proper 
day to keep. 

But are Christians required to keep any day of 
the week as Sabbath, to the exclusion of the other 
days ? Does the Christian Sabbath consist in absten- 
tion from physical labor on one day in seven? Is 
the rest (sabbatismos) that remains to the people 
of God a physical rest ? I am aware that the general 
answer to these questions would be in the affirma- 
tive, but truth compels me to take issue with the 
great majority upon this subject, and to answer in the 
negative. It will probably be a surprise to many to 
learn upon what slight foundation some institutions 
rest, which have so generally been accepted as of 
Divine appointment. I think it will be found upon 



278 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

honest and critical examination that the commonly 
observed Christian Sabbath is one of these founda- 
tionless institutions. There is no warrant for it in 
the New Testament. 

One of the facts that should suggest doubt regard- 
ing the common teaching is, that there is not one 
word said, by either Christ or the New Testament 
writers, about the duty of observing any day as Sab- 
bath. This may not be thought so strange in what 
is said or written to the Jews, as they were great 
sticklers for Sabbath observance, and may not be 
thought to have been in need of instructions or in- 
junctions upon this duty. But with the Gentiles it 
was different. They were unaccustomed to Sabbath 
observance, and not likely to observe any day as 
specially holy without a specific command upon the 
subject. The Apostle Paul was the Apostle to the 
Gentiles, and wrote a number of letters to the Gentile 
churches. He gives them minute instructions concern- 
ing their conduct, even telling them how to eat and 
drink, and what was proper apparel for them to 
wear, but says not one word about the duty of keep- 
ing one-seventh of the time specially holy. In all his 
practical teaching, he says not one word in favor of 
such Sabbath keeping. It is true that he speaks of 
the keeping of days, yes, of the Sabbath days, but 
he says nothing in their favor, but mentions them 
only to condemn them. He says to the Gala- 
tians (iv: 10, 11), "Ye observe days, and months, 
and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 279 

have bestowed labor upon you in vain." In Col. 
ii:i6, 17, he says, "Let no man therefore judge you 
in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, 
or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days ; which 
are a shadow of things to come." This would cer- 
tainly not afford much encouragement to these Gen- 
tile converts to keep Sabbath, according to the com- 
mon practice. It would have just the opposite effect. 
The Apostle surely never would have thus written if 
he had held the same opinions that are held at the 
present day. It has always been difficult enough to 
secure Sabbath observance by professors of Chris- 
tianity, with every encouragement to such a course ; 
such teaching would tend to overthrow it. The Lord 
Jesus, himself, shocked the religious sensibilities of 
the Pharisees, by his apparent laxity on this point. 
They found fault with him as a Sabbath breaker. No 
doubt, however, he kept the Jewish law on that 
point, though he claimed that he was Lord of the 
Sabbath day, and that they had exaggerated notions 
of its importance. He told them that the Sabbath was 
made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Where 
vital human interests were concerned, the Sabbath 
law must give way. 

We claim, then, that the silence of the New Tes- 
tament writers upon the duty of keeping any day as 
a Sabbath, is strong presumptive evidence against it ; 
and that what is said against the keeping of days, is 
direct evidence against the obligation of Sabbath- 
keeping in the common understanding of it. In 



28o SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Rom. xiv, St. Paul speaks of the practice of keeping 
holy days. Some of the Christians at Rome es- 
teemed one day above another ; that is, one day holy 
above another. Others esteemed every day alike ; 
that is, alike holy. Now if one day was holy above 
the rest of the week, it was easy for the Apostle to 
settle the controversy. But he says only, " Let every 
one be fully persuaded in his own mind." That does 
virtually settle the dispute, for if it is a matter of 
opinion only, the result of education, then there 
could have been no obligation upon the believer to 
keep the day. No doubt the Jewish converts con- 
tended for the day, and the Gentiles against it. Prob- 
ably for fear of too rudely shocking Jewish prejudice, 
the Apostle does not directly decide the matter, 
but only by implication. He puts the keeping of a 
holy day on precisely a level with the question of 
distinction of clean and unclean meats. But he tells 
them on that point, that he is persuaded that there is 
nothing unclean of itself. It is only unclean to him 
that so esteems it. As I said, the Apostle actually 
takes sides with the man who does not keep the 
day, for if he can refuse to keep any one day holy 
above another, and be innocent, then there can be no 
obligation to keep it, and the Old Testament Sab- 
bath law is no longer in force. It may be objected 
that the Apostle has no reference to the Sabbath, but 
to other holy days kept by the Jews. He, no doubt, 
refers to the same matter spoken of in Colossians 
already quoted. In that place he includes meat and 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 28 1 

drink, holy days, new moons, and Sabbath days ; de- 
claring them all to be shadows of things to come. It 
is objected to by Sabbatarians that the Sabbaths 
here mentioned are not weekly Sabbaths, but some 
other Sabbaths required by the Mosaic law. But 
there is no proof of this. The Apostle excepts no 
Sabbath, nor does he enjoin the keeping of any day. 
If the keeping of the weekly Sabbath was clearly and 
unmistakably commanded, then we might seek for an 
exceptional meaning for his words. But as this is 
not true, we need not seek for such peculiar mean- 
ing. As he excepts no Sabbath, we need not except 
any. 

The doctrine that a weekly Sabbath is required of 
Christians, is founded upon the claim that it is a part 
of the moral law. If this claim is valid, there can be 
no escape from the obligation. The moral law is of 
everlasting obligation. That is, so long as the rela- 
tions exist out of which moral duties arise, the obli- 
gations must continue. Of course the law against 
adultery will cease in the resurrection, because the 
marriage relation will cease, and the law grows out 
of that relation. But so far as I can see, if man's re- 
lation to God as His creature ever made it obligatory 
upon him to keep one day in seven especially holy, 
there is no such change in that relation as to abro- 
gate the law. If it was a part of the moral law once, 
it is a part of the moral law still. But " is it not 
found in the ten commandments?" Surely, it is a 
part of the fourth commandment. "Then, certainly, 



282 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

it is a part of the moral law." Not necessarily so. 
The ten commandments graven on stone are not the 
moral law. The moral law began to exist for man 
so soon as man began to exist. The ten command- 
ments given by Moses are but a partial transcript of 
the moral law, and not all things in the ten com- 
mandments belong to the moral law. The precepts 
of that law are all moral, but there are some things 
in it that are not so. Take the fifth commandment, 
for instance. The precept, " Honor thy father and 
thy mother," is a moral precept ; it grows out of the 
relation of parent and child. But the promise fol- 
lowing is not a part of the moral law. "That thy 
days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God 
giveth thee." Wherever the relation of parent and 
child exists, there the moral duty exists. But the 
promise is partial, and is to the Jews alone. They 
were the only people to whom the Lord their God 
gave a land, and there is no promise of long life to 
obedient children in any other land. God promised 
the Jews many temporal blessings if they would faith- 
fully keep His law. Among other things, were free- 
dom from disease, long life, victory over their enemies, 
wealth, abundant crops, etc. So to the obedient 
child, one of the promises was made in the law of 
Moses. A disobedient and rebellious child was to 
be stoned to death. (Deut. xxi : 20, 21.) But there 
is no such promise to us as children. It is generally 
said that the good die young, whether it is true or 
not. That part of the fifth commandment applied to 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 283 

the Jews, and to them alone. Therefore, it was not a 
part of the moral law which is universal. So it is 
with the fourth commandment. The first part of the 
precept " remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," 
is a moral precept, though the Jews never kept it in 
that sense. They kept the moral part of the pre- 
cept only in an outward and ceremonial sense. As 
they kept it, it was a shadow only. The ceremonial 
and typical part of the commandment is in the re- 
mainder of it, " Six days shalt thou labor and do all 
thy work ; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord 
thy God ; in it thou shalt do no work, thou, nor thy 
son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy 
maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is 
within thv ^ates. For in six davs the Lord made 
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, 
and rested the seventh day : wherefore the Lord 
blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it." This 
part of the command is ceremonial, and typical of the 
genuine rest to which the Lord refers when he speaks of 
resting from the work of creation. It is no part of the 
moral law, as it does not arise out of the relation we sus- 
tain to God as our creator. Xo one can show how the 
obligation to rest from physical labor is a necessary 
result of our relation to God. The requirement is 
arbitrary, as all ceremonial requirements are, and is 
one that would never be conceived of as a duty with- 
out express command. Moral duties are generally 
apparent, even to those who have never seen or 
heard of Moses' law. The duty of giving all our time 



284 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

to God is easily seen ; but the duty of giving Him but 
one seventh of it, rests upon a positive precept only. 
Therefore, it is not a part of the moral law. No one 
can be exempt from the requirements of a moral law. 
There is no dispensation from its demands. It does 
not rest upon the Divine will alone, but grows out of 
the nature of things. We cannot conceive how God, 
Himself, could make it right to lie and steal, because 
it is wrong in the nature of things. In that sense, 
then, God, Himself, does not have dominion over the 
moral law; He cannot change it nor abrogate it, ex- 
cept by destroying those relations out of which it 
springs. But the Lord Jesus claimed to have domin- 
ion over the seventh-day Sabbath. He says, "For 
the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath day." 
(Matt, xii : 8.) He does not say, Son of God, but 
Son of Man. He here claims, positively, to have do- 
minion over the Sabbath day, so that He can dis- 
pense with its requirements or abrogate it altogether. 
It cannot, therefore, be a part of the moral law. But 
He makes other statements in the same connection 
which set the matter at rest forever. The Pharisees 
had found fault with Him for allowing the Disciples 
to pluck and eat the ears of corn (wheat) as they 
passed through the fields on the Sabbath. They did 
this because they were hungry. This was probably 
a technical violation of the Mosaic law. His reply 
was, " Have ye not read what David did when he was 
ahungered, and they that were with him ; how he 
entered the house of God, and did eat the shew- 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 285 

bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither 
for them that were with him, but only for the priests ? 
Or, have ye not read in the law, how that on the 
Sabbath days, the priests in the temple profane the 
Sabbath and are blameless? But I say unto you, 
that in this place is one greater than the temple." 
In this quotation, Jesus puts the violation of the Sab- 
bath on a level with David's transgression, in eating 
the shewbread. No one can deny that this was a vio- 
lation of the ceremonial law only, and, as it was done 
to preserve life, the ceremonial law was violated to 
avoid a- violation of the moral law. Men are always 
justified in violating a ceremonial precept to avoid 
breaking the moral law. The Disciples were hungry, 
and were justified in breaking the Sabbath law to 
satisfy their hunger. This is what Jesus' language 
means. He did not claim that the letter of the law 
was not violated, but claims that their hunger made 
the act justifiable, and that, therefore, their accuser 
had accused the guiltless. But hunger would not 
have justified them in lying or stealing to satisfy its 
demands. It might be supposed by some person that 
the Disciples were guilty of theft in helping them- 
selves to grain in another man's field. But according 
to the law defining property rights in the land of 
Canaan, they were not transgressors. In Deut. 
xxiii: 25, it is written, "When thou comest into the 
standing corn of thy neighbor, then thou mayst 
pluck the ears with thine hand ; but thou shalt not 
move a sickle unto thy neighbor's standing corn." 



286 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

The Pharisees, knowing this law, did not accuse them 
of pilfering, but of Sabbath breaking. It is plain, 
then, that the Sabbath law was not a moral law, as 
they were justified in breaking it to satisfy their 
hunger. "The Sabbath was made for man, and not 
man for the Sabbath." Therefore, it must give way 
before man's necessities. But the moral law never 
gives way. A man would not be justified in lying to 
save his life. Jesus says, further, "If ye had known 
what this meaneth, ' I will have mercy and not sacri- 
fice,' ye would not have condemned the guiltless." 
From this we learn, that the Sabbath law was a law 
of sacrifice, and God prefers mercy to man rather 
than sacrifice ; that the Disciples should with mercy 
to themselves, appease their hunger rather than offer 
the sacrifice of Sabbath-keeping. How can we, then, 
avoid the conclusion that the seventh-day Sabbath, 
was a precept of the ceremonial law, that must give 
way before man's necessities and convenience? 

But, once more : Jesus cites the profanation of 
the Sabbath by the priests in the temple. They were 
engaged about their ordinary occupations there on 
the Sabbath, just the same as any other day, and yet 
they were blameless. There was no absolute neces- 
sity that sacrifices should be offered on the Sabbath, 
nor that the other sacerdotal employments should 
continue on that day. Yet the Lord considers these 
carnal ordinances and ceremonial rites of more impor- 
tance than Sabbath keeping. It is absurd to suppose 
that God would have a moral precept broken, that a 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 287 

ceremonial law should be kept. Let him believe that, 
who can. Yet He had the Sabbath law broken, that 
the law of sacrifices should be observed. Hence, it 
undisputably follows that the seventh-day Sabbath 
was not only a ceremonial law, but of less importance 
than the one it gave way before. 

One thing concerning these priests must not be 
forgotten. Their time was all consecrated time. 
They were not, while engaged about their duties in 
the temple, doing their own work six days, as it is 
said, " Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work ;" 
they were doing God's work, rather than their own 
all the time. Consequently their time was all, in one 
sense, Sabbattic time. Yet they violated the letter 
of the law. But it was the kind of work that they 
were engaged in that raised them above the law of 
Sabbath observance. But Christ's Disciples are all 
kings and priests. They belong to a Church com- 
posed wholly of first-born children, and therefore 
they are holy and consecrated in their birth. Hence, 
as the members of an earthly priesthood were ex- 
empted from the requirements of a ceremonial Sab- 
bath while in God's service, how much more those 
who belong to a Heavenly priesthood. We conclude, 
then, that the law requiring the hallowing of one day 
in seven, was a ceremonial law and was nailed to 
the cross with other ceremonial laws, and that Chris- 
tians are under no obligations to obey such a law. It 
passed away with the dispensations of shadows, of 
which it was a part. 



288 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

But it may be asked, have God's people, then, no 
Sabbath? Yes, "there remaineth, therefore, a rest 
(Sabbath keeping) to the people of God." It was 
generally supposed that those who observed former- 
ly, and those who still observe, one day in seven as a 
day of physical rest, by so doing entered into, or 
now enter into, God's rest of which He speaks. By 
reading the last five verses of Heb. iii, and the first 
eleven verses of Heb. iv, we will learn that this is 
not the case. We are told (Heb. iii: 18), that God 
swore in his wrath that certain persons, viz.: all 
the Jews whose carcasses fell in the wilderness, should 
not enter into his rest; and we are also told (iv: 6), 
those to whom the Gospel was first preached entered 
not in because of unbelief, although, as we read in 
iv: 3, the works were finished from the foundation of 
the world. We read in iv : 8 that Jesus (Joshua) 
did not bring the Jews into the rest of which God 
speaks when he rested the seventh day, although He 
did bring them into Canaan. For, says the Apostle, 
David, a long time after Joshua, still speaks of 
another day saying, To-day if ye will hear his voice, 
harden not your hearts. From these quotations we 
learn that the rest of which God speaks, had never 
up to David's time been enjoyed or entered into by 
anyone. Men had kept a Sabbath, but it was not 
the rest to which God refers, a rest which men might 
share with God. They had entered into the posses- 
sion of the land of Canaan, but still they had not en- 
tered into God's rest. Joshua had not given this 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 289 

rest. They did not have it in David's time. But 
still it remained for some to enter therein, and the 
writer of this epistle exhorts the Hebrews to fear lest 
some of them might actually come short of it. (So 
Dr. Adam Clarke translates it.) To sum up what 
has been said on this point, then, we find that God 
rested on the seventh day after creation, and prom- 
ised that men should share, or enter into that rest 
with Him. To enter into God's rest is real Sabbath- 
keeping. But though Moses gave the Jews the 
seventh-day Sabbath, he did not give them that rest ; 
though Joshua brought them into the promised land 
neither did he give them that rest. In David's time 
no one had yet entered into it. But it is promised 
that some shall enter into it, and therefore Sabbath- 
keeping remains to the people of God. Now what is 
this Sabbath-keeping, and how is it entered into? 

The writer tells us that it is entered into by faith. 
"We which believe do enter into rest." They who 
formerly entered not in failed because of unbelief. 
They failed to enter into that promised land which 
was but a type of this rest, because they would not 
be persuaded. Since this rest is entered into by 
faith, the rest is a Spiritual rest. " He that is entered 
into this rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, 
as God did from His." When we have ceased from all 
our own works as God did from His, then, and not 
till then, have we entered into God's rest. Then do 
we find the antetypical Sabbath, of which the others 
were but shadows. It is a rest from sin, a rest from 

S. F. S— 19 



^90 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

fear, a rest from anxious cares. A soul rest, to which 
the Savior refers when he invites men to Him saying, 
" Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden 
and I will give you rest." To this rest Charles Wesley 
refers in the petition. 

"To us the rest of faith impart, 
The sabbath of thy love." 

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews declares 
that this is the Sabbath-keeping remaining to the 
people of God. But it may be asked, Does not the 
other Sabbath-keeping remain also? No. " There 
remaineth a Sabbath-keeping to the people of God." 
"A" means one. A Sabbath-keeping, is one Sabbath- 
keeping. No other one remains to God's Spiritual 
people. For his fleshly people, He had a physical rest ; 
for His Spiritual people He has a Spiritual rest. To 
a Christian one day cannot be more holy than an- 
other. To Him there is no profane, no common time. 
All his time is consecrated to the Lord. He has no 
work of his own to engage in six days in the week. 

"Every work he does below, 
He does it to the Lord." 

Instead of having one holy day in the week, he 
has seven holy days. Since all his time is wholly 
consecrated to the Lord, one-seventh of it cannot be 
any more fully consecrated. He does not give one- 
seventh of his time, nor one-tenth of his substance, 
to the Lord, but he gives all his time and all his 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 29 1 

substance. That part of his time given to labor is as 
much given to God, as the part given to prayer and 
praise. He seeks to do the will of God in one as 
much as in the other. He has entered into the ever- 
lasting Sabbath, and he remembers it to keep it holy. 
Anything done that is not of faith would be Sabbath- 
breaking. It would break his rest of soul. Any 
slavish fear, any anxious care harbored in his soul, 
any want of submission to the Divine will, would 
interrupt his rest and make him a Sabbath-breaker. 
Charles Wesley beautifully describes this Christian 
Sabbath in that hymn beginning : 



'Lord, I believe a rest remains, 

To all thy people known. 
A rest where pure enjoyment reigns, 

And thou art loved alone. 

'A rest where all our hearts' desire 

Is fixed on things above; 
Where fear, and sin, and grief expire, 
Cast out by perfect love." 



This, then, is the Sabbath-keeping remaining to 
the people of God. A Sabbath-keeping for Christians 
alone. No others can enjoy it. The Lord enables 
his people to remember this Sabbath day to keep it 
holy. 

But some one inquires: Should not Christians 
observe any day of rest? Yes, in obedience to the 
civil law, which requires abstention from usual avoca- 
tions one day in seven. We need not regard it as 



292 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Sabbath, though we do thus abstain from labor, and 
it is the Christian's duty to "obey the laws of the gov- 
ernment under which he lives, so far as he can with 
a good conscience. He can have no scruples in rest- 
ing one day in seven. This is often spoken of as a 
wise provision of Divine Providence, since it is be- 
lieved to be essential to health and length of days. 
It is truly a good thing for the laborer where rightly 
improved, though it is seldom so improved. Covet- 
ousness has such control of the whole machinery of 
the existing civilization, that the laborer is so driven 
to unremitting toil in order to gain a subsistence that 
anything that gives him some intermission from drudg- 
ery, must be a godsend to him. But if love reigned 
instead of covetousness, there would be no need of 
such intense application to labor. Even with a curse 
on the ground, abundance for all could be produced 
with only such an amount of labor as would not be 
debilitating to the body nor wearing upon the phys- 
ical strength, if love instead of selfishness controlled 
in the distribution. There would, then, be no need of 
any day of rest, but every day would afford suffi- 
cient rest for all purposes of recuperation. As it is, 
the majority of laborers spend their time for rest in 
such injurious indulgences as do them more injury 
than the labor would. And this evil is increasing. 
Christians, in imitation of the primitive Disciples, ob- 
serve the first day of the week as a day for meeting 
together, as they are commanded not to forsake the 
assembling of themselves together. But they need 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 293 

not consider it Sabbath, nor esteem that day holy 
above other days. Their Sabbath is continual. And 
if they understand the teaching of God's word, and 
their own liberty in Christ Jesus, they will regard the 
keeping of days as among those "weak and beggarly 
elements," from whose bondage they have clean es- 
caped. 



THE 
RESURRECTION OF THE BODY 



" But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the 
first fruits of them that slept." — I. Cor. xv : 20. 

"T^HE doctrine of immortality for the immaterial 
A part of man is not confined to the Christian relig- 
ion. Many ancient pagan nations believed in the 
immortality of the soul or spirit. The Egyptians, 
the Greeks, and the Romans, all believed that the 
spirits of the departed still continued to exist in an 
under world. By the Greeks this spirit world was 
called ''Hades;" and in it the shades of the good 
and virtuous were supposed to inhabit Paradise, while 
those of the wicked were thought to be confined in a 
place of punishment in Hades called "Tartarus." 
Similar ideas obtained among other nations. But the 
doctrine of the resurrection of the body was unknown 
to them. They did not conceive that after the body 
had been resolved back to its original elements, it 
should ever appear again or be a party in those 
rewards and punishments due to the conduct of 
man while in the body. The immateriality of the 
spirit, and its consequent indestructibility, were 
inferred from those attributes of the mind which 
(294) 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 295 

were known to them. They argued as Addison 
does in his "Cato." 

" It must be so, Plato, thou reasonest well. 
Else why this pleasing hope, this fond desire, 
This longing after immorality? 
Why starts the soul back on herself, 
And shudders at destruction? 
'Tis the divinity that stirs within us, 
'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter, 
And intimates eternity to man." 

But they could see nothing in the nature of the 
corruptible body that indicated immortality, or even 
a renewal of life, for it, after it once dissolved. It is 
only through revelation, that the idea of a physical 
resurrection is given to us. It is doubtful whether a 
knowledge of the resurrection was general among 
those who possessed the Old Testament Scriptures. 
It is certain that there is no clear revelation of the 
doctrine in the Old Testament. There are hints 
here and there, but nothing clear and definite. Job 
seems to have had some knowledge of the resurrec- 
tion of the dead, or else he spoke prophetically what 
he did not fully understand. In Heb. xi we are told 
of some who died, not accepting deliverance, in the 
hope of a better resurrection. The Jews, in the time 
of Christ's Advent, were divided in opinion on the sub- 
ject, the Pharisees holding to the doctrine of the 
resurrection, the Sadducees denying it. When they 
appealed the question to Christ for His decision, 
He does not assert that the doctrine is clearly re- 
vealed, though He tells the Sadducees that they erred 



296 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. \ 

not knowing the Scriptures, neither the power of God. 
He showed that the doctrine of a resurrection might 
be inferred from the fact that Jehovah calls himself 
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, long after 
they were all dead ; which argues for the existence of 
spirits apart from the body; for God is not the God 
of the dead, that is, those who have ceased to exist, 
but of the living. The patriarchs, though dead to men, 
were still alive to God. The Sadducees were annihila- 
tionists, denying the existence of spirit after death. This 
probably lay at the foundation of their denial of the 
resurrection of the body. Jesus disposes of the diffi- 
culty in the hypothetical case propounded by the 
Sadducees, and which had nonplussed the Pharisees, 
by imparting a piece of important imformation. " In 
the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in 
marriage, but are as the angels of God." This would 
indicate that the difference of sex will disappear in 
the resurrection body, since we are to be like the 
angels. This difference is for a temporary purpose 
only. But though the doctrine is not clearly revealed 
in the Old Testament, it is very clearly taught in the 
New Testament. We are there taught that we are to 
look for a resurrection of both the just and the un- 
just; that there is to be a resurrection to life and one 
to condemnation. Though the phrase, " resurrection 
of the body," is never used in the Scriptures, yet we 
are certain this is what is meant by " resurrection of 
the dead," since Christ's resurrection is a sample of 
the resurrection from the dead. His rising is the first 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 29/ 

fruits of those who sleep. And in His case the body 
placed in the sepulchre, was the one that rose again, 
through changed in its nature. Since the body alone 
dies, there can be no other resurrection from the 
dead except a physical one. 

The reason for a general resurrection is given in 
I. Cor. xv : 22, "For as in Adam all die, even so in 
Christ shall all be made alive." Physical death is not 
the result of individual transgression. If it were, then 
the sinner would be left to suffer forever that penalty 
of sin, the same as any other. But death is the con- 
sequence of Adam's sin. It was a curse pronounced 
upon Adam, and through him upon all his posterity, 
in consequence of the first transgression. Thus in 
Adam all die ; that is, through his fault. But justice 
cannot forever deprive any free agent of any bless- 
ing or privilege which was lost through no fault of his 
own. Therefore in Christ shall all be made alive. 
For "since by man came death, by man came also 
the resurrection from the dead." But God is in jus- 
tice bound to restore no more than was lost. So 
whatever kind of life man lost in Adam, shall be un- 
conditionally restored in Christ. 

It is often taught that man lost immortal life 
through the first transgression. If so, then God will 
in justice restore to every descendant of Adam un- 
conditional immortality. But "life and immortality," 
that is, immortal life, is said to be " brought to light 
through the Gospel." St. Paul tells us, in Rom. ii : 
6, 7, that God "will render to every man, according 



298 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

to his deeds ; to them who by patient continuance in 
well doing seek for glory, honor and immortality, 
eternal life," will be given. But why seek for immor- 
tality if it is the certain heritage of every child of 
Adam? It will come to us without seeking, on that 
hypothesis. It appears, then, that if immortal life is 
brought to light through the Gospel, that it never 
was known before; and if it must be sought for, it is 
not ours by right of inheritance. But where is the 
proof that Adam possessed immortal life before the 
fall? The fact is nowhere stated, and it can only be 
an inference. It is probably inferred from the fact 
that Adam was not subject to death before his sin. 
The inference is a fair one, provided there is nothing 
to contradict it ; but it is not a necessary one. It is 
not necessary to suppose that man possessed natural 
immortality, because he was not subject to death. 
Some means might have been devised to prevent 
death during his state of trial or probation ; for we 
are not to suppose that probation would have con- 
tinued forever. At the end of probation he might, 
if faithful, have been rewarded with immortality in a 
Spiritual body. Judging from God's procedure now, 
that supposition is probable. It is not a necessity of 
the situation, then, to suppose that Adam possessed 
natural immortality. All the information we have on 
that point discredits the claim. There is no proof 
that any change has taken place in the nature of hu- 
man bodies since the creation of man. Our bodies are 
now corruptible, and there is every reason to believe 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 299 

that Adam's body was also. St. Paul expressly states 
that the first man was of the earth, earthly. (I. Cor. 
xv : 47.) His body was composed of the same ele- 
ments as the earth upon which he was to live. Moses 
tells us that he was formed of the dust of the earth, 
and chemistry tells us the same. As his body was 
to be nourished by the fruits of the earth, it must be 
composed of the same materials. The same phys- 
ical laws, then, that govern matter in the earth must 
control his body. But matter is subject to growth 
and decay, and is continually changing its form. We 
cannot well conceive that mutability and immortality 
exist in the same object. As earthly things are cor- 
ruptible in their nature, and Adam's body was earthly, 
it was also corruptible. If it were not so, but was 
naturally immortal, why was there a tree of life pro- 
vided for his use ? We know what the design of this 
tree was, by what is said concerning man's departure 
from the garden after the fall. (Gen. iii: 22-24.) 
"And the Lord God said, Behold the man has be- 
come as one of us, knowing good and evil ; and now, 
lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree 
of life, and eat and live forever : therefore the Lord 
God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till 
the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove 
out the man ; and he placed at the east of the gar- 
den of Eden, Cherubims, and a flaming sword which 
turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." 
It is clear from this quotation that the virtues of that 
tree of life would have been efficacious in preventing 



300 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

death after the curse as well as previously. In order 
that the death penalty might be inflicted and man 
sink into the earth from which he was taken, it was 
necessary to debar him from the privilege of tasting 
of the tree of life. If he had continued to eat, he 
would have continued to live, though his body was 
corruptible and mortal. Since it was necessary for 
man to eat of this tree before the first sin, it follows 
that he was not naturally immortal or he would not 
have needed anything to make him live forever. The 
fact that God provided this antidote against decay, 
proves conclusively that man needed it, and would 
have succumbed to the forces making for dissolu- 
tion without it. As the tree would have produced 
the same effect upon those eating of it after the fall, 
it follows that no change has taken place in the nature 
of man's body, but in order to make death a cer- 
tainty, all that was necessary was to prevent the use 
of the antidote. Adam, then, was naturally mortal, 
but preserved in perpetual vigor by the use of the 
antidote provided. Since we did not lose immor- 
tality in Adam, we have no reversionary right to it 
in Christ, but only to the mortal life he lost for us. 
The wicked shall be raised from the dead, but not to 
an immortality of the body. We have no precise in- 
formation as to how long the physical life of the 
wicked after the resurrection will continue. Their 
spirits will naturally continue in everlasting existence. 
But while believers have the same right to a mortal 
life lost in Adam as unbelievers, they are promised 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 301 

an immortal existence. This is purchased for them 
by the death of the Lord Jesus, and is promised only 
to those who seek for it by patient continuing in well- 
doing. The Apostle says, I. Cor. xv: 54-58, "So 
when this corruption shall have put on incorruption, 
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then 
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written : 
Death is swallowed up in victory. O, death where is 
thy sting? O, grave where is thy victory? The sting 
of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But 
thanks be to God which giveth us the victory, through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore my beloved brethren, 
be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the 
work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your 
labor is not in vain in the Lord." The conclusion 
here drawn would indicate that what is said above, 
concerning the putting on of incorruption and im- 
mortality, applies to the just alone, and not at all to 
the remainder of mankind. 

Having thus learned what is the ground of ex- 
pecting a general resurrection, and having deter- 
mined the nature of the life to which all men are un- 
conditionally entitled ; and, having further learned 
that immortality is the portion of the saints alone ; 
we will next consider the manner in which the dead 
are raised. In this chapter from which I have been 
quoting (I. Cor. xv: 35), St. Paul raises this ques- 
tion : " But some man will say, how are the dead 
raised up; and with what body do they come?" 
The remainder of this chapter is mostly devoted to 



302 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS, 

answering these questions. It seems to me that if 
sufficient attention had been paid to what the Apostle 
here says, some serious errors would have been 
avoided. The theory of the resurrection which is 
generally taught, assumes the material identity of the 
resurrected body with the one which went into the 
grave. That is, it is taught that the resurrection 
body will be composed of the same particles of mat- 
ter that entered into its composition at death. The 
difficulties that beset this theory have caused some 
to reject entirely the doctrine of a literal resurrection. 
Not that the materials that compose any body shall 
ever be destroyed, for matter is naturally indestruct- 
ible. It simply changes its form. But, after death, 
the material of the body is decomposed and resolved 
back into its original elements. These elements do 
not lie dormant, but are taken up by other organ- 
isms, generally by vegetable organisms at first, and 
then are appropriated by animals who feed on the 
vegetation, and thus become a part of other animals. 
These animals may become food for man, and these 
elements will become incorporated again in a human 
body, so that it is not only possible that the same 
elements have been constituent parts of many human 
bodies at their death, but it is quite probable. Some 
men are devoured by wild beasts, and the matter 
composing their bodies is immediately incorporated 
into the body of the animal. Some are burned up, 
and the particles of their bodies are quickly scattered 
into the atmosphere in the form of invisible gases, 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 303 

and but a small residuum is left in the ashes. Bry- 
ant's conception of the fate of dead bodies is much 
more exact than many poetic fancies are. 

" Yet a few days, and thee 
The all-beholding sun shall see no more 
In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground, 
Where thy pale form was laid with many tears,- 
Nor in the embrace of ocean shall exist 
Thy image. 

" Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim 
Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again; 
And, lost each human trace, surrendering up 
Thine individual being, shalt thou go 
To mix forever with the elements — 
To be a brother to the insensible rock, 
And to the sluggish clod which the rude swain 
Turns with his share and treads upon. The oak 
Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mold." 

When we consider the fact that 

" All that tread 
The globe are but a handful to the tribes 
That slumber in its bosom;" 

that untold millions of human bodies have returned 
to dust again, we will recognize the fact that quite a 
proportion of the matter on the surface of this globe 
is composed of elements that once entered into the 
composition of human bodies. These elements nat- 
urally enter again into human bodies, unless prevented 
by Divine interposition. Thus the matter composing 
dead human bodies can be kept separate from all 
other matter, and can be prevented from again com- 
posing a part of some human body at death, only by 



304 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

the interposition of a stupendous miracle. I am not 
disposed to question the ability of Omnipotence to do 
this, for nothing is impossible with God that is not 
self-contradictory. But is it necessary to suppose that 
this is being done? Is it necessary, in order to the 
identity of the resurrection body, that it should con- 
tain all, or any of the matter composing it at death? 
If it is, God will no doubt keep this matter separate, 
awaiting the resurrection day. For it is absolutely 
essential that our identity should be preserved ; as it 
would not be justice to reward us or punish us in the 
future, unless we are the same identical persons that 
merited the reward or punishment. What is it that 
preserves the identity of human beings? What is it 
that determines the fact that a man is the same man he 
was formerly ? Is he the same he was fifteen years ago 
because his body is composed of the same materials? 
Because the same particles of matter compose his body 
now, that composed it fifteen years ago? I think not. 
Physiologists tell us that all the matter in the human 
body is changed once in from seven to fourteen years. 
The change is accelerated in youth and retarded in 
age. The constituent parts of the body are contin- 
ually changing; waste matter is being eliminated, 
and new matter is being introduced, principally in 
food and drink. No man's body is the same, that is, 
composed of the same particles of matter, for two 
days together. Yet he is the same man to-day he 
was yesterday. The man who committed a felony 
fifteen years ago, if now apprehended, can be justly 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 305 

punished for his crime. He is the same identical 
man he was fifteen years ago, though there is not a 
particle of matter in his body now, that composed it 
when the crime was committed. From this we learn 
that the particles of matter composing the body has 
nothing to do in determining the identity of the indi- 
vidual. It is not necessary, then, to suppose that the 
resurrection body is composed of the same particles 
of matter that were in the body at death. This is 
not necessary to its identity. 

We will now consider the explanation given by 
St. Paul in I. Cor. xv: 36, 38. The supposed ques- 
tions are, How are the dead raised up ? And with 
what body do they come? The reply is, "Thou 
fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except 
it die ; and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not 
that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance 
of wheat or some other grain : but God giveth it a 
body as it has pleased Him, and to every seed his 
(its) own body." The point established by the 
Apostle in this illustration is, that the body that shall 
be is not the one placed in the tomb. You sow a 
grain of wheat in the ground. When the body that 
shall be first appears, it looks nothing like a grain of 
wheat, but is a green blade. Then it develops into 
a stalk ; afterward the ear appears, and then the ripe 
grain in the ear. We reap, apparently, much more 
than we sowed, though the "promise and potency" 
of all we reap was in the grain when sown. But not- 
withstanding all the various metamorphoses, when we 

S. F. S.-20 



306 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

reap, we gather the same grain we sowed, because 
God has ordained that like shall produce like. The 
grain has through all mutations preserved its iden- 
tity. If we sow wheat we will reap wheat, and the 
same kind of wheat we sowed. Yet the Apostle de- 
clares that the grain sowed had to die in order to be 
quickened. Jesus declares, "Except a corn of wheat 
fall into the ground and die, it remaineth alone : but 
if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (St. John xii : 24. ) 
So long as it is free from the action of fermentation, 
which is decay, there is no vivification nor growth 
But does the whole grain of wheat die ? Not by any 
means. If it did, there would be an end of it. No 
unspringing blade would ever then gladden the heart 
of the sower. The bulk of the grain decays, but 
there is a particle in the grain that does not die, but 
rises in new life out of surrounding decay. We call 
this little surviving particle the germ. In it is con- 
tained in embryo all the future plant and fruit. It 
possesses the power of assimilating the necessary 
elements taken out of the soil and the atmosphere, 
to produce the future grain, and to mold the elements 
according to the type, so that the future grain shall 
be just like the grain that was sown. The power of 
preserving identity resides, then, in the life principle 
or germ. So long as that survives, identity cannot 
be lost. No difference where the matter comes from 
that composes the future grain, though the grain 
reaped may contain not a particle of the matter com- 
posing the grain sown, yet we reap identically what 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 307 

we sowed. It is a subject of indifference what mat- 
ter is used, the life principle preserves identity. 
Any matter united with the life principle produces 
the same body. But the same identical matter 
without the life principle could not do it. So it is 
of the resurrection body. There is in man a life 
principle or soul, and so long as it is in the body, 
the identity of the living man is preserved, no difference 
what matter it is united with. And if the body die 
and dissolve away, whenever it pleases God, this life 
principle, soul or Spirit, surviving, can produce the 
individual again by uniting itself with any proper 
constituents, no matter whether they were ever in the 
former body or not. But if the whole man were to 
die, as some teach, there could be no resurrection. 
It would be impossible. If the grain of wheat die, 
germ and all, God could make another grain of 
wheat just like the one that died, but it would bear 
no relation to the wheat that died. So if the whole 
man die, body, soul and spirit, God can make an- 
other man just like the one who died, but he would 
bear no relation to the one who died. He could not 
be made to be the same man, nor could he justly be 
rewarded or punished for the deeds of the other 
man. It is absolutely essential to a resurrection 
that some part of the man should survive death ; and 
it must be that part of man that preserves his iden- 
tity during all the changes of the material substances 
of his body. This is the life principle or spirit. 
Those who teach the death or sleep of the whole 



308 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

man, then teach a doctrine that makes a literal resur- 
rection impossible, though they at the same time 
teach the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, 
with great inconsistency. One part of their teaching 
directly contradicts the other part. 

From what has been said I think it will appear 
clear that there is no need of supposing that the same 
materials enter into the composition of the resurrec- 
tion body that composed the first one ; and the illus- 
tration of the Apostle is plainly against such a theory. 
While those who are out of Christ have no promise 
of any body different from the corruptible one which 
went into the grave, and will consequently come forth 
to a resurrection of shame and contempt, those who 
sleep in Christ will have a resurrection of power unto 
incorruption and glory. A wonderful change shall 
take place in the nature and constitution of their bodies. 
Their vile bodies will be changed into the likeness of 
Christ's -most glorious body. It was sown a natural 
body, it shall be raised a Spiritual body. As to the 
qualities of a Spiritual body, we can know but little. 
"We know not what we shall be, but we know that 
when we shall appear, we shall be like him." We 
have the information given that " flesh and blood 
cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth 
corruption inherit incorruption." A Spiritual body is 
not flesh and blood, therefore. But Jesus after he 
rose with His Spiritual body, said to the Disciples 
who supposed when they saw Him that they saw a 
spirit, or as men would now say, a ghost : "Handle 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 309 

me and see ; a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye 
see me have." It seems, then, that a Spiritual body 
hath not flesh and blood, but it has flesh and bones. 
The blood is wanting. The declaration is made con- 
cerning the natural body that, " the blood is the life ;" 
therefore, there could be no remission without shed- 
ding of blood. It is also the most corruptible part of a 
man. When the blood is removed from the body, it is 
kept from corruption with comparative ease. It is not 
strange, then, that the blood which constitutes the life 
of the natural body should be absent from the Spirit- 
ual body. It possesses a life wholly different from 
that of the natural body. We are told, also, that Jesus 
took broiled fish and a piece of honey-comb and ate 
before the Disciples. This was probably done to as- 
sure them that he was not a spirit, and not because 
he needed such food to nourish His body. We can- 
not conceive how such gross food could become in- 
corporated into a Spiritual body, especially in the 
absence of the circulation of the blood. Neverthe- 
less we cannot speak with assurance any further than 
information is imparted. We are plainly informed that 
a Spiritual body is not a spirit, and consequently 
must be material, as it could be felt and handled. 
Whether it is naturally subject to the laws which 
govern gross matter or not, we cannot tell. We are 
told that Jesus appeared in the room where the Dis- 
ciples were, without opening the shut door, which 
made the Disciples imagine Him a spirit. It is 
probable that light, heat and electricity are material 



3IO SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

substances though not subject, apparently, to the laws 
governing grosser forms of matter. This may be 
true also of the Spiritual body. It is to be perfectly 
free from corruptibility, and so probably from any 
change in its component parts. If that be true, as 
there would be no waste, there could be no need of 
nourishment to repair the waste. There are many 
things which curiosity would seek to know about 
this subject, but we must wait for information until 
we gain our Spiritual bodies. 

The common understanding of the resurrection is 
that it is to be general, or universal, and that all men 
are to be raised up at the same time " in the great 
rising day. " I cannot account for this prevalent er- 
ror, since the Scriptures are explicit on that point. 
In I. Cor. xv : 23, 26, we read, " But every man in his 
own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that 
are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, 
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to 
God, even the Father ; when he shall have put down 
all rule, and all authority and power. For he must 
reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 
Here we find two resurrections after that of Christ, 
the first fruits. First. Those that are Christ's at His 
coming. Second. The remainder of mankind in the 
end of his reign. Death will still hold dominion over 
the unsaved dead until the end of Christ's reign, un- 
til all His enemies have been subdued ; then death, 
the last enemy, shall be destroyed by the rising up of 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 311 

the remainder of mankind. In Revelations we are 
told that the rest of the dead lived not until the 
thousand years had expired. This agrees with what 
St. Paul says here, in Corinthians. He tells us further, 
inverses 51, 52, that "We shall not all sleep, but we 
shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling 
of an eye, at the last trump ; for the trumpet shall 
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and 
we shall be changed." The expression, "and the 
dead shall be raised incorruptible," refers only to 
those who sleep in Christ, as we learn from I. Thess. 
iv: 16, 17. "For the Lord, Himself, shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch- 
angel, and the trump of God : and the dead in Christ 
shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain, 
shall be caught up, together with them, in the clouds, 
to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be 
with the Lord." This is the first resurrection ; and 
they that have part in it are pronounced "blessed 
and holy, over whom the second death hath no 
power." Those who are alive at the coming of the 
Lord, shall experience the same change in their 
bodies as if they had passed through the grave. For 
this glorious change, believers wait in hope. They 
know that they "have not already attained" to it, 
realizing that their bodies are still vile and corrupti- 
ble. In this body they "do groan, being burdened, 
earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with their house, 
which is from heaven." "The first man is of the earth, 
earthly, the second man is from heaven, heavenly." 



312 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

(The true reading, according to Dr. A. Clarke.) 
This Spiritual body is their house from Heaven. 
They know that they must wait for their reward till 
Christ comes to raise them up or change them. 
Therefore, they do not desire merely to be unclothed, 
to be disembodied spirits, "but to be clothed upon, 
that mortality may be swallowed up of life." 

"Then let the last loud trumpet sound, 
And bid our kindred rise — 
Awake, ye sleepers underground, 
Ye saints, ascend the skies." 



SWEARING 



"But I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by 
heaven ; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; for 
it is his footstool : neither by Jerusalem ; for it is the 
city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy 
head, because thou canst not make one hair white or 
black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea ; Nay, 
nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of 
evil." — Matt, v.34, 37. 

I . /HEN King David said in his haste that all men 
** ^ were liars, he uttered a sentiment which could 
not be successfully contradicted after the maturest 
deliberation. Men naturally are very much like their 
father, the devil, of whom it is said that the truth is 
not in him. Neither is the truth in men, until 
Christ, who is the truth, is formed within them. 
When men are not deliberate liars, they are uncon- 
sciously such ; as it is almost impossible, if not quite 
so, for any man to tell anything exactly as he knows 
it. So many considerations come in to influence him 
to exaggerate, equivocate, or otherwise color the 
plain truth, that he will scarcely resist them all. 
This weakness, to speak of it by no harsher name, 
was recognized in the earliest ages, and some means 
was found necessary to cause men to feel under ex- 
traordinary obligation to tell the truth. Out of this 
necessity arose the practice of making oath, or 
swearing. The nature of an oath is a solemn appeal 

(3*3) 



314 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

to God to witness what is said, and to deal with the 
deponent accordingly as he tells the truth or a false- 
hood. In the process of time oaths became multi- 
plied, and men swore by different things considered 
sacred and valuable. In fact when it was found one 
kind of oath failed to bind the conscience, other 
forms were tried in a vain endeavor to get men to 
tell the truth. But all experience has shown that to 
multiply oaths is to multiply perjury. Among the 
ancients some oaths were considered more sacred 
and binding than others. Some were lightly disre- 
garded, while others produced enough fear to some- 
what bind the conscience. At the present day the 
Mahomedan considers himself most bound when 
he swears by the beard of the prophet Mahomed. 
Among the Jews there was much casuistry concern- 
ing oaths. Some were considered binding, some, not. 
For instance, if one swore by the temple, it amounted 
to nothing, but if he swore by the gold of the temple, 
he was bound. To swear by the altar, was nothing, 
but to swear by the gift on the altar, made him a 
debtor to tell the truth. But so inveterate is human 
mendacity, that notwithstanding all these efforts to 
produce truthfulness in men, very little reliance is 
placed upon the binding power of oaths, and the 
credibility of testimony, in courts and out of them, 
depends principally upon the character of the wit- 
nesses, rather than upon the fact that they are on 
oath. Yet though many men would be believed as 
surely without an oath as with one, as it would not 



SWEARING. 315 

be considered seemly to make invidious distinction, 
they are required to swear as well as the others. I 
believe though that exceptions are made of royal 
personages, as it would be considered an insinuation 
against their veracity to ask them to swear. So is it 
an insinuation against any other man's veracity. 

The Lord Jesus forbids His people to swear, be- 
cause He intended to have a truthful people. As 
oath-taking was made necessary by man's natural un- 
truthfulness, the necessity will no longer exist, when 
a perfectly truthful people is found. That is, it will 
not exist as to them. Now real Christians are a 
truthful people, so there is no need of their swearing 
to anything. To suppose that there is any such need, 
is to suppose that Christ's salvation is a failure. 

But it is contended that Christ does not forbid an 
oath under some circumstances. In fact it is usually 
explained that it is profane swearing or cursing that 
is here forbidden by our Lord. Of course there is 
no ground for such an explanation of His language. 
It is not cursing or profaning of the name of the 
Deity, that is here forbidden. There is no reference 
whatever to that reprehensible practice. This will 
quickly appear from the consideration of the preced- 
ing context. We will perceive that Christ is here for- 
bidding what the law permitted. "It hath been said 
by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, 
but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths ; but I 
say unto you, Swear not at all." In other words, 
Jesus says, "The law permits swearing, but forbids 



3 16 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

perjury, but I say, Do not swear." The law did not 
permit cursing but made it a capital offense. Lev. 
xxiv: 1 6. "And he that blasphemeth the name of 
the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the 
congregation shall certainly stone him." So, then, it 
is not blasphemy or profane swearing that is here for- 
bidden by our Lord, but something " those of old 
time" were permitted to do. In several places in 
this chapter Jesus contrasts His teaching with that of 
Moses. It was said in the law, "An eye for an eye, 
and a tooth for a tooth;" but Jesus says "Resist not 
evil." It was said, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor and 
hate thine enemy ;" but Jesus says, " Love your ene- 
mies." So it was said in the law "Swear, but do not 
perjure yourselves;" but Jesus says, "Do not swear." 
In these things appears the difference between the law 
and the Gospel. But, according to the common ex- 
position of our text, what is the difference between 
Christ's teaching and that of Moses? It is a distinc- 
tion when there is no difference. But it is said, that 
it is swearing in our common conversation that is for- 
bidden, and not taking an oath when required to do 
so before a magistrate. Certainly, swearing in our 
common conversation, and all asseveration stronger 
than yes and no are forbidden; but where is any 
exception made in favor of swearing before a magis- 
trate? If it is wrong to swear in common conversa- 
tion, can it be right to do so anywhere else ? If the 
thing itself "cometh of evil," or as the new transla- 
tion has it, "of the evil one," how can the require- 



SWEARING. 3 1 7 

ments of human law make it right? It must be 
wrong in itself if it cometh of the evil one ; nothing 
good ever comes from him. But says someone, Did 
the law then permit things that were wrong? Cer- 
tainly, many wrong things. It permitted divorces for 
slight causes, which Jesus says caused adultery to be 
committed. It permitted men to hate their enemies, 
which is wrong. It permitted revenge, which belongs 
to God alone. As Jesus nowhere makes any excep- 
tion to this prohibition, nor do any of the Apostles, 
no one else has the authority to do so. St. James 
says, "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, 
neither by heaven nor by earth, nor by any other 
oath ; but let your yea be yea ; and your nay, nay ; 
lest ye fall into condemnation." (v: 12.) There is no 
hint here of any exception to the rule. Since Christ 
and the New Testament writers have made no excep- 
tion to the rule, and have nowhere intimated that 
Christians are allowed to do at the requirements of a 
magistrate what is declared to be evil elsewhere, what 
right has any man to teach otherwise ? This is teach- 
ing for doctrine the commandments of men. 

But it may be asked, does not St. Paul command 
Christians to obey magistrates? He does, indeed. 
But this is to be understood only of those commands 
of magistrates that do not conflict with God's law. 
In such cases we are to obey God rather than man. 
It is said also that the Lord Jesus was put on oath 
when before Pilate, and that He answered when thus 
adjured. If this be true, it proves nothing, as he 



3 1 8 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

suffered under the law and submitted to its require- 
ments. It might be urged that the Christian who 
refuses to take an oath, may sometime injure his 
neighbor by his refusal : in that he may be the only 
witness of the neighbor's innocence of a false charge 
made against him, and his testimony would have no 
weight without an oath. If a Christian will not take 
an oath to clear himself, he need not, to clear his 
neighbor, as he is not required to love his neighbor 
more than he loves himself. 

But it may be said that through the protest of the 
Society of Friends, or Quakers, as they are usually 
called, the laws have been modified so that the testi- 
mony of an oath-fearing man may be utilized. Men 
who are unwilling to take an oath may take an affir- 
mation. I might remark that the legal affirmation 
is so much like an oath, that a man stultifies 
himself in refusing one and taking the other. But 
whether the statutory affirmations are really oaths or 
not, they are violations of Jesus' prohibition. For 
not only are all kinds of oaths forbidden, but any- 
thing more than simple yes and no. Anything in- 
tended to strengthen the Christian's simple word, 
anything intended to increase his obligation to tell 
the truth, is forbidden. "Let your communication 
be yea, yea ; nay, nay ; for whatsoever is more than 
these cometh of evil." Anything, whatever, that is 
intended to strengthen the Christian's obligation to 
tell the truth, is forbidden, as coming of evil, or the 
evil one. 



SWEARING. 3 1 9 

It is not absolutely necessary that we should un- 
derstand the reason for this prohibition, or why any- 
thing more than simple yes or no cometh of evil ; 
if the fact of the prohibition is established, it is suf- 
ficient to decide the matter for obedient disciples. 
But there are some reasons which seem to me to be 
apparent to the casual inquirer. In the first place, 
as the necessity for swearing arose out of the natural 
want of truthfulness in men, the requiring of an oath 
is an intimation or an insinuation of want of veracity. 
But God's salvation makes men truthful. It makes 
them honest and sincere. It makes them possessors 
of that mind which was in Christ Jesus. It takes all 
the guile and deceit out of them. For such persons 
to consent to take an oath, is to admit that they, like 
natural men, are still untruthful, and that they need 
extraordinary means to insure their telling the truth. 
It is a discrediting of God's work in them, and an 
admission that they are still probable liars. This 
they cannot admit without dishonoring God. It 
might be objected here that God, Himself, took an 
oath, and swore by Himself, since there was no 
greater saying, "As I live, I have no pleasure in the 
death of him that dieth, but rather that he would 
turn and live." This He did, as He did many other 
things, to accommodate Himself to the conception 
and apprehension of debased, fallen man, who had no 
conception of infinite veracity. But it is apparent to 
a Spiritual understanding that nothing can add to or 
strengthen the word of infinite truth. It is a principle 



320 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

of mathematics that infinity cannot be added to. 
So the word of Deity is as strong as His oath, as 
they are both immutable. But, though Deity thus 
lowered Himself to reach fallen man, he has forbid- 
den His people to imitate His example in this re- 
spect, as there is no such necessity for it. Again, 
an oath is an obligation to tell the truth. It is also 
considered necessary to prepare a man to tell the 
truth. Consequently, when a man is sworn, he is 
said to be qualified. Qualified for what? To testify, 
or to tell the truth. But a Christian is already under 
obligation to tell the truth. He is under the 
strongest possible obligation to tell the truth. 
He is also qualified to tell the truth, the 
whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The 
strongest possible obligation cannot be increased. 
Consequently, nothing that he can do or say, can 
strengthen the obligation he is already under to tell 
the truth. To admit that he can be put under 
stronger obligation to tell the truth, is to admit a 
falsehood. It is to act a lie. To admit that a jus- 
tice of the peace, or a public notary, probably a 
wicked man with no reverence for God, himself, can 
put him under stronger obligation to tell the truth 
than the Lord Jesus Christ has put him under, is to 
deny the Lord that bought him. Again, the whole 
practice of oath-taking is founded on fear. It is the 
fear of punishment that is appealed to in the admin- 
istering of an oath. It is hoped that when mens' 
fear of future punishment is appealed to in the ad- 



SWEARING 321 

ministering of an oath, they will shrink from calling 
down upon themselves Divine wrath by false witness. 
In the affirmation administered, men promise to tell 
the truth under "the pains and penalties of perjury." 
But Christians do not act under such an inspiration,* 
they are delivered from such slavish fear. They 
"have not received the spirit of fear, but of power, 
and of love, and of a sound mind." We are com- 
manded to obey " not for wrath, but for conscience' 
sake." But when a Christian takes an oath or an 
affirmation, he acknowledges that he is moved by 
fear rather than by conscience. In this, again, he de- 
nies his Lord. If the son of a king is considered to 
be qualified to tell the truth without being sworn, 
how much more is that true of a son of the King of 
Kings. It is unworthy of his high lineage that he 
should be thought to need any such qualifying. 

It may be said, if Christians should be excused 
from swearing, persons not real Christians would take 
advantage of the exception made in their favor, and 
thus evil would come of it. Christians do not de- 
mand that any exceptions should be made of them. 
They are willing to obey God and take the conse- 
quences. But even if exception were made in their 
favor, no great evil could come of it, nor more than 
has come out of the exceptions already made in per- 
mitting men to affirm instead of swearing. If oaths 
were done away with entirely in courts of justice, no 
great effect would be produced. If men were pun- 
ished for lying the same as for perjury, in their 

S. F. S.— 21 



322 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

testimony, there would be probably no more false tes- 
timony given than now. If a man has not enough fear 
of God to keep him from lying, he has not enough to 
keep him from swearing to a lie. And if it is the fear 
of state's prison that restrains him, it would be just as 
undesirable to go to prison for lying as for perjury. 
So nothing is gained by requiring oaths, while the 
indifferent and flippant manner in which oaths are 
generally administered, tends to strip the practice of 
all seriousness, and to debauch men's consciences. 

This teaching of Christ is not sufficiently regarded 
in everyday conversation, even among the best men. 
While it is so much regarded that they refrain from 
any kind of oath, generally speaking, the force of 
past 'evil habits of speech is seen to assert itself to a 
greater or less extent long after conversion, in many 
cases. God's people need to have a pure language 
turned upon them. They want none of the language 
of Ashdod left among them. Sometimes people are 
guilty of swearing without being aware of it. Such 
expressions as " as sure as I am alive," "as sure as I 
am here," " as sure as you are born," etc., are all 
oaths. In one case the user swears by his life, in 
another by his presence, and in the last by the fact 
of the other's birth. All asseverations and superflu- 
ous phrases are to be avoided. If a thing is true, say 
so simply, without qualifying words. Let your yea, 
be yea. If it is not true, say it is not. Do not add 
any words to strengthen your denial. Let your nay, 
be nay, and no more. What is added to simple yes 



SWEARING 323 

or no, cometh from no good motive and is an idle 
word for which we must give an account in the day 
of judgment. How disgusting to a pure mind, or 
even to a cultivated taste, are the oaths great and 
small which make up so much of the conversation of 
the average man. The constant protestations of 
truthfulness and reliability are both vulgar and 
wicked. In this respect, also, obedience to Christ 
makes a man a gentleman. 

Let us, then, glorify God in our every day conver- 
sation, remembering that Jesus says : " By thy words 
shalt thou be justified, and by thy words shalt thou 
be condemned." 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN 



"The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a 
woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the 
whole was leavened." — Matt, xiii : 33. 

TT is probable that no passage of Scripture has been 
more completely misunderstood and more gener- 
ally misinterpreted than the one above quoted. The 
ground of this misinterpretation is the erroneous con- 
ception of the final result of Gospel preaching, which 
is so general among religious teachers. It is usually 
believed that the world is to be converted through 
the preaching of the Gospel, and so this parable is 
interpreted to make it harmonize with this opinion. 
But no such teaching is found in the New Testament, 
nor in the Old Testament either, when rightly under- 
stood. There are probably more dissenters from 
this teaching at the present day, than at any previous 
time since the end of the third century of this era. 
Yet it is still the popular belief. In every instance 
where Christ, or any of the New Testament writers, 
refers to the future of Christianity, or the end of this 
age, they speak of it as being a time of general apos- 
tasy, rather than of general faithfulness. Jesus de- 
clares, as recorded by Luke, chapter xvii of his 
Gospel, and by Matthew, in chapter xxiv, that, at the 
coming of the Son of man, it shall be as when the 
flood came, in the days of Noah, and took away the 
(324) 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 325 

antediluvians while they ate, and drank, and married, 
and builded. Or as the day when Lot went out of 
Sodom, and the fiery deluge took them unawares. 
He intimates that faith will have about perished at 
His coming to avenge His people; that, "because in- 
iquity shall abound, the love of many (ton pollon, of 
the many) shall wax cold." The condition here fore- 
told does not indicate the glorious state of the 
Church usually supposed to precede the coming of 
the Lord. The same state of affairs is foretold by 
the Apostles in their epistles to the Churches. St. 
Paul, in his first epistle to the Thessalonians, tells 
them a falling away, or apostasy, shall precede the 
coming of the day of the Lord. In his first letter to 
Timothy, he tells us that, "the spirit speaketh ex- 
pressly, that in the latter times some shall depart 
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doc- 
trines of devils." In II. Timothy he informs us that, 
"in the last days perilous times shall come." And 
his description of false professors of Christianity, who 
have a form of Godliness, without the power, puts 
them very much on a level with the heathen world 
before the time of Christ, as described by the same 
author, in Rom. i: 28, to the end. This does 
not look very much like a reign of universal 
righteousness, brought about through the preaching 
of the Gospel. In this same chapter, in II. Tim. 
iii : 13, he declares that, "evil men and seducers 
shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being de- 
ceived." It is generally supposed, that the world is 



326 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

getting better and better, and, of course, if this is true, 
it must be the condition of evil men that is improv- 
ing. God says they shall wax worse and worse ; the 
wise and honorable men, the bishops and doctors of 
divinity, say it is getting better and better. No 
doubt they are sincere in their declarations, which 
proves the truth of Scripture ; for, while they are de- 
ceiving others, they are themselves deceived. We 
are told in another place, that the time will come 
when men will not endure sound doctrine ; that they 
will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears ; 
that they will turn away their ears from the truth, and 
be turned unto fables. For this cause God will give 
them up to strong delusion, that they may believe a 
lie. Since the wise men teach that, concerning the 
condition and prospects of the world, which flatly con- 
tradicts God's word, that delusion must be upon them 
now. Let God be true, though it make every man 
a liar. Instead of the reign of Christ being brought 
in by a gradual improvement in the moral and Spirit- 
ual condition of mankind through the influence of the 
Gospel, His coming to claim His kingdom is to pro- 
duce a great shock in the political and religious world. 
It will come unexpectedly, as a thief in the night. 
" As a snare shall it come upon all those who dwell 
on the earth." God's people do not dwell here ; 
they are but sojourners and strangers. While the 
earth-dwellers are saying peace, and safety, then sud- 
den destruction shall come upon them. When Jesus 
comes in the clouds and every eye shall see Him, 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 327 

and they also which pierced Him (not the Roman 
soldier), then all the kindreds of the earth shall 
wail because of Him. This does not speak well for 
the Spiritual condition of earth's kindreds. In fact, 
everything written on this subject contradicts the 
idea of a converted world through the preaching of 
the Gospel. But someone may ask, Is it not prom- 
ised that all shall know the Lord, from the least to the 
greatest? Yes, but all of whom? Those who are in 
the new covenant. The Lord has promised that He 
will put His law into the hearts of His new covenant 
people, so that they will not need to teach each other 
the knowledge of God, because all, even the least of 
them, shall know God for himself. That prophecy 
has long been fulfilled. These prophecies which 
have been used to prove the conversion of the world 
are misapplied. " Many of them refer to the millenial 
reign of Christ. Since, then, the Scriptures do not 
teach the final triumph of the Gospel in the conver- 
sion of the whole world, but the contrary, it is not nec- 
essary to interpret this parable to harmonize with 
such a theory. With the preconceived idea out of our 
minds, there is nothing in the parable itself, nor in 
other Scriptures, to lead to such an interpretation. 
To make the good meal represent a wicked, corrupt 
world, and the corrupt leaven the emblem of a pure 
religion, looks preposterous at the outset. That 
which is good and valuable is generally taken to rep- 
resent good things in a Spiritual sense, and vice 
versa. It is strange that Christ should here use 



328 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

leaven in a sense exactly opposite to that in which it 
is used in every other place where it occurs in the 
Scriptures either in the Old, or the New Testament. 
In every other place it represents a corrupting prin- 
ciple. Under the Mosaic law, unleavened bread was 
used to typify the body of Christ, both His physical 
and His Spiritual body, because His body was never 
to see corruption. It was foretold concerning Christ, 
as quoted by St. Peter in Acts ii : 27, that His soul 
should not be left in Hell (Hades, the place of de- 
parted spirits), neither should the Holy One be suf- 
fered to see corruption. And Peter declares in 
verse 31, that His flesh saw no corruption. So as 
leaven is a principle of corruption, unleavened bread 
was the only proper emblem of Christ's body which 
saw no corruption. Jesus' death was a violent one, 
and His early resurrection prevented putrefaction. 
The soldier's spear pierced His heart and let His 
blood flow out, which may account for this fact, as 
the blood is the first of all the solids or fluids of the 
body to begin to putrefy. Or we may suppose that 
Christ's body was miraculously preserved by Divine 
power, from any beginning of decay. In the celebra- 
tion of the Passover, for a whole week leaven was 
scrupulously excluded from all the Jewish dwellings. 
The shewbread in the temple was also destitute of 
leaven. In all the Old Testament types leaven rep- 
presents corruption. The Lord Jesus uses the same 
figure of speech in another place. He exhorts His 
Disciples to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 329 

and the leaven of Herod." Another evangelist rep- 
resents Him as saying, " Beware of the leaven of the 
Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Is it probable that 
He would use the same figure of speech to represent 
Pharisaical hypocrisy and His own pure religion? 
It would be giving an entirely different meaning to 
leaven than it ever had before. The Apostle Paul, 
however, does not intimate such a novel use of leaven 
as a type. He used it in a sense that harmon- 
izes with the Old Testament use of it, and Jesus' use 
when speaking of the Pharisees' doctrine. He says 
to the Corinthians (I. Cor. v:6), "Know ye not 
that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ?" He 
is warning them against fellowshiping the fornicator 
who had married his father's wife. He represents 
him as being Spiritual leaven among them, and ex- 
horts them to purge out the old leaven that they 
might be a new lump, even as they were unleavened. 
In his epistle to the Galatians, he uses the same 
phrase : "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." 
He is here warning them against a false doctrine that 
had been introduced among them. Some false 
teacher had been endeavoring to corrupt them by 
persuading them to submit to Jewish ordinances. 
This would ruin them in the end. We see, then, that 
the use of leaven to represent a corrupting principle, 
is universal in Scripture unless this parable forms the 
single exception. 

The teaching that leaven here represents a saving 
principle, is not only contrary to its usual meaning in 



330 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Scripture, but is contrary to nature and reason. It 
is a principle in both nature and morals that when 
good and evil are brought into contact, that evil 
always predominates. Evil is contagious, but good 
is not. Disease is contagious, but health is not. If 
one smallpox sufferer is placed among twenty healthy 
persons the twenty will not cure the one, but the one 
will infect the twenty. Thus, when disease and health 
are placed in contact, disease prevails over health, 
but health makes no impression on disease. This is 
equally true in the moral world, of which the natural 
is the type. I know that this is contrary to the 
popular idea. It is supposed if evil men are taken 
into association with good men, that they will be 
benefited and the good will be uninjured. It is 
thought that virtue must be indeed weak that cannot 
endure association with vice. We might as reasona- 
bly say, that health is very precarious that cannot 
endure association with disease. " Can a man touch 
pitch and not be defiled?" St. Paul declares that 
evil communications corrupt good manners. Or to 
put it in the nineteenth century English, evil asso- 
ciations corrupt good morals. Dr. Adam Clarke says 
the Greeks had a similar proverb, given by one 
of their poets, in this language : " Bad company good 
morals doth corrupt." On the same principle, St. 
Paul writes to the Church not to company with 
fornicators. Not that they should avoid all busi- 
ness transactions with such characters, for then they 
must needs go out of the world. But they were for- 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 33 1 

bidden to receive such as brethren, or to eat with 
them. " If anyone who is called a brother be a 
fornicator, or covetous, or a drunkard, or a railer, or 
an extortioner, with such an one, no, not to eat." 
"Therefore put away from among yourselves that 
wicked person." (I. Cor. v: 11, 13.) The Church of 
Jesus Christ is not the place for reforming men. 
Under the law the unclean were compelled to stay 
without the camp until they were cleansed. The 
camp, representing the Church, was not the proper 
place for cleansing. Cleansing is for sinners. The 
Church is composed of saints. It is to be a pure 
and clean place, for the abode of pure and clean 
people. "The temple of the Lord is holy," and He 
will dwell in no other kind of place. If impurity is 
retained, Christ is excluded. He is not in fellow- 
ship with sin. If one Achan retained in the camp 
was sufficient to bring defeat upon the whole host of 
Israel, what harm will not one sinner do in the ranks 
of Christ's army? Since it is a general principle, 
then, that when good and evil are placed in contact, 
the evil always prevails over the good to its destruc- 
tion, it is unphilosophical to suppose that a little bit 
of good, like the leaven, placed in quiet contact with 
such a large amount of evil, represented by the meal, 
should assimilate the evil rather than it should be 
assimilated by it. It is unnatural, and therefore 
untrue, that good should thus prevail over evil. One 
sinner, by association, destroyeth much good. But 
one saint can destroy no evil by associating with it. 



332 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

Good prevails over evil, not by quiet contact, but 
only by active conflict with it. In all associations 
there must be some common ground, some point of 
contact. Out of this the danger arises. Leaven 
might be placed in many substances which it would 
not affect at all, because of their want of homogeneity. 
Leaven is sour dough ; dough in which has been set 
up a chemical process called fermentation. Meal 
contains just those elements upon which this destruc- 
tive process can fasten. Hence, the danger of con- 
tact between the two. Fermentation is disorganiza- 
tion and death. This decaying process cannot by 
any means represent the work of the Gospel in the 
world. Then, again, the manner of placing the 
leaven in the meal is not expressive of the manner in 
which the Gospel was introduced into the world. A 
woman took the leaven and hid it in the meal. Her 
object could not have been a good one, or why 
should she be so secret and so clandestine in her 
procedure. The result was the ruin of the meal, and 
this was probably the design. But if her action in 
placing the leaven in the meal represents God's work 
in introducing the Gospel into the world, why is she 
said to hide the leaven in the meal? 

God did not hide the Gospel in the world. Jesus 
declares that in secret he had done nothing. The 
thing was not done in a corner. There was nothing 
secret, or furtive or clandestine about the introduc- 
tion of the Gospel. The coming of Christ was fore- 
told hundreds of years previously, so that men were 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 333 

expecting it. Then John the Baptist, Christ's har- 
binger and herald, called public attention to the com- 
ing Redeemer. Angels announced His birth. The 
wise men came from a long distance to do him homage. 
Herod advertised His birth by the slaying of the 
innocent children. His teaching and His miracles 
drew general attention to Him. His public trial, His 
tragic death, the natural prodigies attending it, all 
conspired to attract universal attention. His resur- 
rection, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pente- 
cost, still further excited public interest. The preach- 
ing of the Apostles, not only aroused the wrath of the 
Jewish people, but they were accused in other lands 
of turning the world upside down. Can it be pos- 
sible that this most open, this most dramatic, this 
most sensational introduction of Christianity into the 
w r orld, is fitly represented by a woman hiding some 
leaven in some meal ? We conclude, therefore, that as 
the interpretation of this parable -which makes the 
leaven represent a saving influence is contrary to 
Scripture, and reason, to sound philosophy, and to the 
nature of things, it cannot be the correct interpre- 
tation. 

Since we are plainly taught in the Scripture that 
the Christian age is to end in a general apostasy, this 
parable should be interpreted in harmony with that 
fact. When so interpreted it will not only agree 
with Scripture, but with reason and natural law. The 
leaven represents a corrupting principle which was 
introduced into pure Christianity, represented by the 



334 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

three measures of meal. But I will pause to answer 
an objection that may occur to someone, who may 
say, "Does not Christ say the Kingdom of Heaven 
is like leaven ? How then can leaven mean something 
evil?" I answer that the Kingdom of Heaven is not 
like the leaven, nor the meal, nor the woman, taken 
alone, but is represented by the whole transaction 
mentioned. Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is 
likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his 
field," etc. "The kingdon of heaven is like a 
merchantman seeking goodly pearls," etc. "For 
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an 
householder, which went out early in the morning to 
hire laborers into his vineyard," etc. Now, no one 
supposes that the kingdom of heaven is like either 
of these persons mentioned, because they are first 
mentioned in each parable. There is nothing more 
said of the man who sowed the good seed in his field. 
In some parables the thing most significant of the 
good in the Gospel dispensation is mentioned, 
first; in some others, it is not first mentioned. But 
the whole parable typifies the Kingdom of Heaven, 
or some characteristic of it. This objection, 
therefore, falls to the ground. The leaven 
represents the corrupting principle introduced into 
the meal, the Gospel of Christ. It is three measures 
of meal, because three is a number of perfection ; it 
expresses the perfection of Christianity as it came 
from Christ. As meal, or flour, is one of the most 
complete foods for the nourishment of the body, so 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 335 

the Gospel of Christ is the bread of life to the soul. 
The woman who introduced the leaven into the meal, 
represents the Jewish Church, or Judaism. It is com- 
mon for a Church, true or false, to be represented by 
a woman. This parable teaches, then, what is taught 
in other Scriptures, and what the history of Chris- 
tianity has exemplified, that there is to be an apos- 
tasy from the faith, and that the profession of 
Christianity is to degenerate into a powerless form. 
That in the last days of Christianity, symbol and 
form are to take the place of life and power, and that 
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost are to give place to 
meat and drink. This corruption of the pure, Spirit- 
ual religion of Jesus Christ is not accomplished at 
once, but progresses through a long succession of 
years. At first the progress was slow, but it grad- 
ually grew in power and intensity, as the process of 
assimilation neared its completion. The Apostle 
Paul declared that "the mystery of iniquity" already 
wrought in his day, but that its progress was retarded 
by some hindering cause. The corrupting principle 
introduced by Judaism was a dependence upon car- 
nal ordinances, and that which is earthly and fleshly. 
Christ's religion was wholly Spiritual and Heavenly. 
In it there was no mixture of the fleshly and ceremo- 
nial. But Judaism right from the beginning intro- 
duced some of its own peculiarities into Christianity. 
All the Apostles were Jews and full of the prejudices 
of their Jewish education. That which they retained 
of Jewish rites and ceremonies, as national customs 



336 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

and distinctions, without attaching importance to them, 
were afterward regarded as essentials and held as 
such. The Apostle Paul, from his peculiar calling 
as the Apostle of the Gentiles, was more quickly 
freed from these things than any other of the Apos- 
tles, and more completely emancipated from all Judai- 
zing tendencies. So much was he in advance of the 
other Apostles in this direction, that it was thought 
hazardous for him to return to Jerusalem, though he 
went to take gifts to his countrymen which he had 
collected from the Gentile congregations. Upon his 
arrival in Jerusalem, and before he had publicly 
shown himself, he was, by the leaders there, per- 
suaded to take a course to preserve peace and unity, 
which resulted in a manner exactly opposite to their 
expectations and wishes. Certain persons had taken 
a vow according to the ceremonial law, and Paul was 
persuaded to shave his head and be at charges with 
them to show that he was just as good a Jew as any 
of them. 

They said to him, Thou seest, brother, how many 
thousands of the Jews believe, and they are all zeal- 
ous of the law. They had heard that he taught the 
Jews not to circumcise their children, nor to walk 
after the Mosaic customs. If he did so teach, he 
only taught what Christ authorized him to teach, 
since Paul, himself, tells us that these customs were 
nailed to the cross, in order to make of Jew and Gen- 
tile one new man, so making peace; that Christ had 
broken down this middle wall of partition between 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 337 

Jew and Gentile. Thus, Paul was about to be dis- 
owned by professed Christians for teaching that 
which was the distinguishing mark of Christianity. 
It is evident that there was a good deal of this leaven 
already in these Jewish Christians. We are told in 
Acts xv, that certain men from Judea taught the 
Gentile Disciples that they must be circumcised in 
order to be saved. This caused so much trouble 
that Paul and Barnabas were sent up to Jerusalem to 
consult the Apostles and brethren there, concerning 
the matter. They decided that the ceremonial law 
was not binding upon the Gentiles, though they re- 
quired some things of them as necessary which were 
not so, but were a part of the ceremonial law. But 
notwithstanding this decision of the Apostles, the 
work of Judaizing the Gentile Churches still con- 
tinued, and the Apostle Paul in particular had much 
trouble in combating these false teachings. It ap- 
pears that it was thought that a Jew might innocently 
be circumcised, or might circumcise his children, be- 
cause it was a national custom, but for a Gentile to 
do the same was to deny Christ. This prejudice 
against an uncircumcised Jew was so strong, that St. 
Paul felt constrained to circumcise Timothy, whose 
mother was a Jewess, lest his access to the Jews 
might be shut off. These concessions to Jewish prej- 
udice may have been expedient, but as the question 
had to be met some time, it might have been better 
to have met it at once. If all Christians had been 

taught to do as the Gentiles were instructed to do, a 
s. f. s.— 22 



338 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

world of trouble might have been averted. But in 
the meanwhile, the little leaven was introduced, 
enough of the virus of Judaism was injected, to set 
up a process of fermentation which has continued to 
the present day. St. Paul declares, "The mystery of 
iniquity doth already work, only he that letteth 
(hindereth) will let, until he be taken out of the 
way." The expression is significant. When any 
substance begins to ferment, it is said to be working. 
So this mystery, or doctrine, of iniquity was a leaven- 
ing principle, which had already begun its work of 
disorganization and destruction, even in the apostolic 
days. The hindrance referred to was no doubt the per- 
secuting Roman government, which by its opposition 
and persecution repressed this tendency to carnality. 
It made the weather too cold for the leaven to 
work freely. Persecution naturally tends to preserve 
the Spirituality of its victims, and consequently to 
discourage trust in outward rites and symbols. For 
three hundred years this state of things continued, 
and though a carnal ecclesiasticism grew up in places, 
yet the mass of the professed Church was kept com- 
paratively pure. In the letters to the seven Churches 
of Asia, which part of the Revelations, like the re- 
mainder, is manifestly prophetic, it being declared to 
be a prophecy before the beginning of the address to 
the seven Churches, we can trace the gradual deca- 
dence of Spirituality in the Church, and the growth of 
a power hostile to Christ and His pure Gospel. That 
these seven Churches might have been in the several 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 339 

states spoken of is possible, if we may not say prob- 
able. But if so they were made to stand, each for 
an era in the future history of Christianity. Even 
their names seem to be symbolical of the states por- 
trayed. In the message to the Church at Ephesus,* 
there is much commendation. They were praised for 
their works, their labor, their patience, their inability 
to stand them who were evil, their ability to detect 
false Apostles, etc. But there was one fault pointed 
out which seemed to overbalance all their good 
qualities ; they had left their first love. For this they 
were pronounced fallen, and were threatened with 
rejection, unless they repented and did their first 
works. Already, though they had much that looked 
good and gracious, they had departed from God. 
This represents the condition of the general Church 
somewhere between . the end of the first and the 
beginning of the fourth century. We understand 
this to be so, because the message to the Church 
at Smyrna refers to the ten years' persecution 
under the Emperor Diocletian which took place be- 
tween 303 and 3 1 3 A.D. How soon, then, the decline of 
pure Christianity began. Even before the beginning 
of the fourth century the nominal Church was gener- 
ally backslidden. A more or less numerous minority 
still retained their first love and the power of Godli- 
ness. We can learn from Church history the truth of 
this prophetic representation. We can see how 
much carnality had already crept in, and how much 

* Note : — Probably derived from Epliiemi ; to loose, to slacken. 



340 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

importance was already attached to fleshly ordinances 
and outward forms. We have very little history of 
the Church during the first century, except what is 
found in the New Testament, and must depend upon 
tradition for what we learn of those times. 

It is only as the nominal Church departed from its 
original simplicity and purity, that its transactions 
became of general interest, or that it began to be 
thought to be worthy of notice. Yet its most exten- 
sive conquests were made within one hundred, or 
one hundred and fifty, years after Pentecost. Dur- 
ing that period the whole known world was reached 
by the heralds of the cross, and many of the 
preachers sealed their testimony with their blood. 
"They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and 
the word of their testimony, and they loved not their 
own lives unto the death." No theological schools 
had yet been established, no missionary societies yet 
organized, but a Gospel preached with the Holy 
Ghost sent down from Heaven, brought men by 
thousands to the foot of the Cross, and shook the 
trembling gates of Hell. It is true that the leaven 
had already been introduced, but its effects had been 
as yet little felt. In the zealous preaching of the 
Gospel, and the journeying by land and sea, little op- 
portunity was given for study, and the simple story 
of the Cross was proclaimed without assistance from 
metaphysical speculation, or Platonic philosophy. 
But as the Christians became very numerous, perse- 
cution became less frequent, and was usually confined 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 34 1 

to comparatively small areas ; so that it came to pass, 
though there were few seasons of complete freedom 
from persecution everywhere, that in places the 
Churches had long rest. While this tended to an 
increase in their numbers, it did not conduce to their 
growth in grace. This was apparent when persecu- 
tion did come, as many would apostatize through 
fear of death, which was a thing almost unknown in 
the earlier times. And when the last and the sever- 
est of the persecutions of the Church came, thousands 
apostatized. But the result was beneficial to the 
Church at large, as those who stood faithful were 
much strengthened in their faith, and learned what 
was essential in the religion of Christ. Many were 
faithful unto death and earned a martyr's crown. It 
was to the Church in the throes of this persecution 
that the message to the Church in Smyrna applies. 
Smyrna signifies myrrh, an arromatic, transparent, 
resinous gum. It was valuable because of its odor, 
and also for medicine. It derives its name from the 
bitterness of its taste, and its name signifies, to be 
bitter. This Church was told that Christ knew its 
poverty, but that it was really rich. It was told that 
the de\'il should cast some of its members into prison, 
and that they should have tribulation ten days. 
This is supposed to refer to the ten years' persecu- 
tion under Diocletian, which was the most wide- 
spread and unrelenting that the Church had yet 
suffered, as well as the last one. It was bitterness to 
the Church, but their faithfulness was a sweet smelling 



342 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

savor to God. The Jews referred to in the mes- 
sage may be literal Jews who still claim to be the 
people of God, or, more probably, false professors 
of Christianity are meant. Shortly after the close 
of the Diocletian persecution, Constantine, some- 
times called "the Great," came to the throne of the 
Roman Empire, having defeated all his rivals. For 
more than two hundred years, Christians, though be- 
coming more and more numerous in the Roman Em- 
pire, had refrained from becoming soldiers, both be- 
cause of their horror of war, and because they could not 
take the oaths prescribed, nor pay that reverence to 
the Roman standards, which military laws required of 
all the soldiers. They considered it idolatrous wor- 
ship. Even in the fourth century, the more Spiritual 
minded still condemned soldiering. Yet quite a 
number of Christians had so far overcome their 
scruples, as to become Roman soldiers. Their num- 
bers were sufficient during the civil wars preceding 
Constantine's accession to the throne, to form a 
legion. This legion formed a part of Constantine's 
army, and they were excellent soldiers, so much so 
as to attract especial notice. Constantine had been 
surrounded with Christian influences in his youth 
and was disposed to favor the Christians. In his last 
battle with his competitors, he claimed to see a 
flaming cross in the sky, on which was inscribed the 
motto, "By this, conquer." This, he afterward 
claimed, completed his conversion to Christianity. 
There is no proof in his after life that the conversion 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 343 

affected him personally, but it determined him to 
favor Christianity at the expense of Paganism, which 
had been the only recognized religion of the Roman 
empire. Christianity was raised to the place of 
power and made the national religion, and Paganism 
was put under the ban. This was a tremendous 
change in the condition of the Church. It had just 
passed through a terrific struggle with the dragon 
of Paganism, and had come off victorious, and the 
great red dragon was cast down to the earth. But 
the change was disastrous to the Church. The hin- 
drance to the full working of the leaven was now re- 
moved, and the sunshine of worldly favor soon accel- 
erated the corrupting process. The Church had now 
reached Pergamos, a high place, a citadel. Perga- 
mos is the Church set up on high in a secure place. 
Jesus tells her that she dwells in Satan's seat, the 
place until then occupied by the dragon, who is the 
devil and Satan, according to Revelation xii 19. She 
had just emerged from the Diocletian persecution, 
whose purifying fires had purged away much of her 
dross, and she was comparatively pure. She was 
commended by the Lord for holding fast His faith 
and not denying His name, even in the face of mar- 
tyrdom. Antipas, there mentioned, is probably a 
symbolical person. The word means " antipope." 
The purest and most faithful Christians were most 
likely to be most severely dealt with by the per- 
secuting power, and were those to oppose the earthly 
ecclesiasticism which was growing up in the Church> 



344 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

and which developed so rapidly after Christianity 
became the national religion. 

There were a few things in the Church in Perga- 
mos which the Lord condemns. There were those 
who taught the doctrine of Balaam. We are not to 
understand they taught actually what Balaam taught, 
but his teaching was a type of theirs. He taught 
Balak to entice the Israelites to idolatry and fornica- 
tion. These condemned teachers taught the Church 
to commit Spiritual fornication. It was at this time 
that the union of Church and state began, which is 
called Spiritual fornication. This tended to corrupt 
Christianity, and to make the Church dependent on 
the civil power instead of Christ, her husband. The 
attempt was also made to adapt Christianity to the 
pagan taste, by lowering the standard and incorpo- 
rating many heathen customs into Christianity, 
changing the name and slightly altering the design of 
them. All this was obnoxious to God. He charged 
them, also, with holding the doctrine of the Nicolai- 
tanes, which Christ hates. This passage has puzzled 
commentators. They have imagined that these per- 
sons were disciples of some teacher by the name of 
Nicolaus. But there is no proof of the existence of 
any such man. No doubt the name is metaphorical. 
It is derived from two Greek words, " nike," meaning 
victory, superiority, advantage over, and "laos," the 
people. It means, therefore, superiority over the 
common people. To my mind it evidently refers to 
that distinction between what is called the clergy, and 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 345 

the laity, which was growing up in the Church, and 
which resulted in the complete dominion of the 
clergy, and the complete subjugation of the laity to 
priestly dominion. In Christ's conception of the 
Church, one is our Master, even Christ, and all the 
disciples are brethren. While all the members have 
not the same office, but some are evangelists, some 
pastors, some teachers, yet no one class is superior 
to any other class. They had authority only as they 
had the Holy Spirit, and showed the fact in their 
labors. But love of power and dominion is inherent 
in depraved human nature. St. John in his third 
epistle, tells of one in his day who held this doctrine, 
Diotrephes, by name, who loved to have the preemi- 
nence, and usurped authority to cast people out of 
the Church, who did not do his bidding. This love 
of dominion, so contrary to the spirit of Christ, was 
fast taking possession of the bishops and presbyters 
of the Church at Pergamos. It can only prevail 
where the love of Christ has been driven out. No 
wonder God hates it for it usurps his prerogatives, 
and is used to oppress His faithful people, who can- 
not acknowledge any other head but Christ. This 
doctrine of the Nicolaitanes was hated by the Church 
at Ephesus and the Lord commends them for their 
hatred. It is scarcely credible that the Churches 
here addressed should have been guilty, literally, of 
the crimes here denounced before the end of the first 
century, and we can understand it only in a pro- 
phetic sense, of the cqndition of the Church at a 



346 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

later age. Yet if these things are literally true, they 
are but types of what should occur later. If these 
seven Churches were in the corrupt state referred to, 
they could not have been the only Churches so 
affected, and why should Christ address only 
these seven, unless we understand the number 
seven to stand for the whole, as it often does, 
and to include the whole history of the Church, 
from the first century down to the end of the age. 
General attention is called to what is said to the 
Churches. " He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
the Spirit saith unto the churches." 

The Church at Thyateira is the next one ad- 
dressed. The same things are here condemned that 
were in the Church at Pergamos, but under different 
symbols. Those who teach the doctrine of Balaam 
are here personified by a woman. She is said to 
teach exactly the same things condemned at Perga- 
mos. The woman is called Jezebel. We know what 
a bitter and active enemy of Judaism Jezebel was, 
and how she persecuted the servants of God. Those 
who formerly taught the doctrine of Balaam are now 
organized ; before, they were not. Jezebel stands for 
a patroness of false religion and a persecutor of the 
true. It seems that an organization had grown up in 
the Church claiming to speak by divine authority, 
which endeavored to bring about a union of Church 
and state, producing Spiritual fornication and idolatry. 
In some manuscripts it reads, Thy wife, Jezebel. The 
message is addressed to the angel of the Church, 



THE TARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 347 

which means the ministry or bishops. It would seem, 
then, that the clergy, so called, had already espoused 
the cause of this false Church, organized among true 
Christians. Christ threatens her children with death, 
and those who commit adultery with her, with great 
tribulation, unless they repent. As the history of the 
Church at Pergamos began about the beginning of 
the fourth century, the Church at Thyateira stands 
for the history of the Church during the rise of the 
Papacy and the division of the Roman Empire, and 
the rise of the Mahomedan power which proved 
such a scourge to those civil powers who committed 
adultery with the Church, as well as to the woman, 
Jezebel, and to her children. But there was a rem- 
nant in Thyateira who rejected the papal claims, and 
resisted that worldly ecclesiasticism that strove to 
dominate everything and to bind men's consciences 
by claims to Divine inspiration and authority. Jeze- 
bel professed to be a prophetess. Even Dr. Adam 
Clarke, who would interpret all these messages to the 
Churches literally, thinks it not credible that a bishop 
of a Church in the first century should allow such 
things to be done in the Church, at least by his wife. 
The meaning of the word, "Thyateira," is not very 
clear. It seems to be derived from two Greek words ; 
"thua," meaning a soothsayer or astrologer, and 
"teiros" or "teras," meaning signs, omens or the 
heavenly bodies. The meaning seems to be one who 
foretells the future by signs or omens, consequently 
a pretender to prophecy. The Church at Thyateira 



348 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

is distinguished for the presence of an organized 
ecclesiasticism, pretending to speak for God, called 
" that woman, Jezebel." 

The Church in Sardis is the next one addressed. 
It was in a desperate state. It was dead, though 
having a name to live. Spiritual life was nearly 
extinct. Except in the case of a few persons, there 
was nothing in it to commend. But there were a few 
things that remained, though about ready to die. It 
was not yet wholly corrupt. There were a few names 
even in Sardis who had not defiled their garments. 
Sardis stands for the Church during those centuries 
immediately preceding the Reformation, usually called 
the Dark Ages. Religion and science both languished, 
empires were crumbling, and the papacy, alone, in- 
creased its power and authority. It flourished most 
where ignorance and superstition prevailed, We 
would expect to hear the doom of the Church pro- 
nounced in the next message. But instead we behold 
a reaction taking place. God came down to see the 
city and the tower which men builded, and con- 
founded their language, so that they could not under- 
stand one another's speech. This was necessary to 
preserve vital Godliness on the earth ; otherwise, the 
things which remained and were ready to die would 
soon have perished. 

The next message is to the Church in Philadel- 
phia. This represents the Church during the period 
of the Reformation. Christ says to this Church: 
"Behold, I have set before thee an open door and no 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 349 

man can shut it." "Thou hast a little strength and 
hast not denied my name." Philadelphia means 
brotherly love, which was once more seen during the 
religious revivals beginning with John Huss in Bo- 
hemia, and followed by Luther and the English re- 
formers. This disrupting of the papal power gave an 
open door out of Romanism, and still furnishes an 
open door out of all human ecclesiasticism. Before 
this, there was no chance of escape. The arm of the 
papacy was too long and too strong, and no way of 
egress could be found. But when this powerful or- 
ganism was rent in pieces, honest souls had a chance 
of escape from her grasp. Nevertheless, the human 
organisms resulting from this disruption were of the 
same nature as the old one ; they became Rome's 
daughters. This process of division continued up 
into the nineteenth century, and became a source of 
great weakness to human ecclesiasticism. It was im- 
possible to hold men in the same Spiritual bondage 
as before, and Babylon, confusion, resulted. But 
this gave honest, sincere souls a chance to worship 
God, according to the teachings of His word and 
Spirit. Much of this movement called the Reforma- 
tion, was political, and not wholly religious. It is 
supposed to be represented by the angel who stood 
with one foot on the sea and one on the land ; the 
sea representing men in their political capacity, and 
the earth representing false religion. But this disin- 
tegrating process has stopped at present, and the 
tendency is toward organic union again. The effects 



350 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

of the reformation have been lost, the religious zeal 
it kindled has died out, and men no longer care to 
quarrel about a matter that concerns them so little. 
The bitterness of Protestant sects toward Romanism 
is gone, and more stress is being laid upon points of 
resemblance than upon points of difference. In fact, 
theologians are trying to find a common ground 
upon which all earth's religions can stand, as witness 
the Congress of Religions in Chicago, during the 
World's Columbian Exposition. The denominations 
once considered the most orthodox and evangelical 
are fast slipping into a liberalism which ignores or 
denies the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel of 
Christ, and is simply thinly disguised infidelity. 
Very few of the leading ministers of the day will boldly 
stand up for the doctrines of a vicarious atonement, 
natural total depravity, endless punishment, etc., which 
were but lately considered the very marrow of the 
Gospel by these sects, and are still in their published 
creeds. They prefer to preach about the Father- 
hood of God, and the brotherhood of man, which is 
nothing but Deism, without any of the distinguishing 
marks of Christianity. From these indications, 
among others, it is plain that we have reached the 
Laodicean state, and Christ's message to that Church 
applies to professors of the present day. "I know thy 
works, that thou art neither cold or hot. So then be- 
cause thou art neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee 
out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, ' I am rich 
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;" 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 35 1 

and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, 
and poor, and blind and naked." This is a desperate 
state. This Church is not charged with open wicked- 
ness ; it could not be so deceived as to its real con- 
dition if it was openly wicked. In this respect it 
differed from the Church before the Preformation. It 
is stated in Church history that when the general 
council of Constance met in that city, which council 
was composed of the highest ecclesiastics, arch- 
bishops, bishops, abbots, and doctors, of the Church, 
that the city was filled with prostitutes who gathered 
there to ply their trade while the council was in ses- 
sion. The wickedness of these priests was open, 
flagrant, palpable. Yet this council was called to 
reform the Church in its head and members. 
Wicked as they were, they felt and acknowledged the 
need of reform, but they did not want God's kind of 
reform, as they condemned and burnt John Huss and 
Jerome of Prague, reformers whom God had raised 
up. It is needless to say that the Church was not 
reformed at that council. Two popes were de- 
throned, w T ho had been mutually excommunicating 
each other, and another was chosen more wicked 
than either of the other two. Openly wicked as that 
Church in Sardis was, it was not so obnoxious to 
God as the one at Laodicea. It was neither so hypo- 
critical nor so lost. It, at least, had some sense of 
its wretched condition, and there was some hope 
for it, while this was the case. But the Laodicean 
Church is lukewarm ; a pretended friend, though 



352 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

a real enemy of Christ. It betrays the Son of man 
with a kiss. It smiles and smiles, and is a villain. 
It is the traditional Pharisee, full of its own righteous- 
ness. She says she is rich and actually thinks so, 
while she is miserably poor. She professes to be 
increased with goods. She fondly imagines that 
never since the apostolic days was there so much 
Godliness as now. She compares herself with the 
Church in former years, as she thinks, greatly to her 
own advantage. She has all she needs of piety and 
Godliness, all she needs is more money and she would 
soon convert the world. And what a conversion it 
would be. Like the proselytes of the Pharisees of 
old, they would be two-fold more the children of 
Hell. With her missionary, Church extension, and 
Bible societies, her Young Men's, and Young 
Women's, Christian Associations, her Christian En- 
deavor, and Epworth League societies, her Sunday 
Schools and Chautauqua Circles, she is fully equipped 
in her own estimation, and has on the white robe of 
righteousness. But Christ says, "Thou art naked." 
She imagines she can see, but Christ says, "Thou art 
blind." She says, "I sit a queen and am no widow, 
and shall see no sorrow," while the evidences of her 
unfaithfulness are on every hand. In every other 
Church, there was something to be commended, in 
this one nothing. In the others were some faithful, 
in this one none. The people of God have all been 
called out of her. They found the open door which 
no man has been able to shut since God opened it ; 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 353 

they heard the voice from Heaven saying, Come out 
of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her 
sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Up to the 
Laodicean state, God's real people were found in the 
recognized Church, but here they are not mentioned. 
Either no faithful are left, or they have come out of 
her. Since Christ has promised that a remnant 
shall be left till His coming, they must be without 
this recognized Church. In her the leaven has done 
its work completely. Not one saved soul is left in 
her. She has become the habitation of devils, 
and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of 
every unclean and hateful bird. The sound of the 
millstone is heard no more in her ; no more bread 
there. The voice of the bridegroom and the bride 
are heard in her no more at all ; neither Jesus nor 
His Church speaks there. The light of a candle is 
seen no more in her. God lights no more candles, 
saves no more souls in her. The wine of the wrath 
of her fornication circulates freely, and by it the 
nations are made drunken. She, herself, is so intoxi- 
cated that she is rich while she is poor, wise while 
she is blind, and clothed while she is perfectly 
naked. Her shame plainly appears to sober peo- 
ple. The carnal organism was once like a grain of 
mustard seed, but it has now become a tree shel- 
tering all the fowls of the air. The seed, though 
so small, contained, in embryo, all that has since 
developed. The plant was at first small, but is now 

a tree of sufficient size to become a roosting place 
s. f. s.— 23 



354 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

for the fowls of the air. The leaven seems to repre- 
sent the corrupting principle ; the mustard tree, the 
result which is manifest to the eye ; the human organ- 
ism. The name "Laodicea" (Greek, "Laodikeis") 
seems to be a compound of "Laos," the people, and 
" dike," right, or privilege. It would, therefore, mean 
the rights of the people. It seems to indicate that 
rebellion of the people against priestcraft, which is 
characteristic of these last days. The people are 
claiming a share in the control of ecclesiastical 
affairs, and are making their power felt even in the 
papal Church itself, but more plainly among Protes- 
tant sects. The laity have shaken off the yoke of 
priestly authority borne for so many centuries, and 
have taken matters into their own hands. While 
this has not improved matters in Babylon, it has 
made it much easier for real Christians to stand 
apart from the throng, and to worship God accord- 
ing to the leadings of God's Spirit and the teachings 
of His word. Priestly authority, which would rob 
them of their liberty, cannot reach them to prevent 
their freedom. Yet God still gives time to Laodicea 
to repent. He counsels her to buy the real gold 
tried in the fire that she may be rich, and white rai- 
ment that she may be clothed and hide her naked- 
ness, and to anoint her eyes with eye salve that she 
may see. How long He may wait and what space 
He may give her to repent, I cannot say. In His 
message to Philadelphia, the preceding Church, He 
says: "Behold I come quickly, hold fast that thou 



THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN. 355 

hast, that no man take thy crown." It is probable 
that the time will not be greatly prolonged as He 
has promised to "finish the work and cut it short in 
righteousness." In another place we are told " except 
those days be shortened, no flesh shall be saved ; but 
for the elect's sake they shall be shortened. " 

We have traced the history of the Church down- 
ward from apostolic days, noting the gradual decay 
of Spirituality (except in the case of Philadelphia) ; 
and the development of a power hostile to simplicity 
and Spirituality, until God's people have been finally 
separated from the nominal Church, and antichrist 
has taken full possession of her. The prophecy of 
Christ is fulfilled. The little leaven has leavened the 
whole lump. Judicial blindness has taken possession 
of the nominal Church, and she turns away her ears 
from the truth and is turned to fables. Her doors 
and her ears and the hearts of her people are closed 
to the Gospel as were those of the ancient Pharisees, 
and the awful destruction which overtook them and 
their devoted city will soon overtake modern Baby- 
lon. With violence shall she be cast down and be 
heard of no more. And the blood of all the proph- 
ets and righteous men, who were slain for the truth's 
sake, shall be found in her. Her pretensions shall 
be discredited, her impudence shall be made manifest, 
and it shall clearly appear who is the Lord's chosen 
bride. She has long been discredited and maligned. 
The watchman that go about the city have smote and 
wounded her, and the keepers of the wall have taken 



356 SERMONS ON FAMILIAR SUBJECTS. 

her veil away from her, to show their contempt for 
her pretensions to virtue ; but she shall have praise of 
all, when the Lord returns and claims her as His own. 
Her sorrows will then be forever ended, her claims 
will be proven true, her honor vindicated. 

"The Church in her militant state 
Is weary and cannot forbear; 
The saints in an agony wait 
To see him again in the air. 

"The news of His coming, I hear, 
And join in the Catholic cry; 
O ! Jesus in triumph appear; 
Appear in the clouds of the sky." 

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. 



